Lamb of God, Meshuggah @ Festival Hall, Melbourne (22/09/2013)
I peered down at the emerging wall of death from my front row seat. One song in by Swedish extreme-metal band Meshuggah and the front of the mosh pit was already ablaze of aggressive head banging, with the development of what was to be an insane mosh.
As lead vocalist Jens Kidman greeted the crowd, I was surprised by his cool accent, much softer than his voice in a musical screaming and growling context.
As each track met completion the crowd would just chant and scream for more. Their incredible lighting supported Meshuggah’s popularity with the Melbourne crowd effectively. Fire-esque beams lit up in correspondence with instruments played. The lighting only got more and more impressive, with a ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ mechanism where dusty lights would transform the musicians into silhouettes.
This was particularly incredible during build ups where the lighting would only capture drummer, Tomas Haake during vocal breaks, creating a fierce anticipatory atmosphere of what was to come next.
The album, and single-continuous suite ''Catch thirty-three'' definitely proved to steal the show of Meshuggah's whole performance. With pillers of light beaming on par with guitar chords in complete darkness, the crowd was engaged tremendously. As the lighting dimmed, all that could be seen were the hands of fans in the air saluting the sign of the horns. This was a great note for Meshuggah to end their set on, leaving the crowd even more eager for Lamb of God to grace the stage.
When Lamb Of God opened, flashing lights kept the crowd on their toes as singer Randy Blythe appeared screaming "What's up Melbourne!".
The response of the crowd was wild, as the band dove straight into their hit "Reclamation". It was this point in the night that intense moshing and walls of death expanded from the front of the mosh, and dispersed into the entire realm of the floor.
As their engaging opening drew to an end, Blythe showed excitement when bonding and interacting with the crowd: "How the fuck are you feeling Melbourne.. It's like a fucking bogan extravaganza in here!" This attitude was playfully appreciated and embraced by the crowd.
Before Blythe continued the set, he was clear to outline and acknowledge moral responsibility as a person, and as an entertainer: "You all know what happened, I'm not here to preach. But if you see somebody fall down, help them up- we aren't here to see anybody get hurt, we are here to have a good time". Blythe was of course referring to an incident dating back to a 2010 show in the Czech Republic, in which a fan died after serious head injuries. Blythe was charged with manslaughter two years later, but cleared of all charges. "Australia is my favourite place in the world to tour. We would have been back sooner if it weren't for legal difficulties".
As their set continued, there wasn't a person in the room shy of head-banging to tracks such as Take a walk with me, Sick to death, The undertow, and more.
Blythe spoke with clarity and passion when interacting with the crowd, reinforcing a bond with his Australian fans: "I would never bullshit to an audience and tell them hey, you are the coolest city ever! when you aren't. Australia you are our favourite country to tour. You have some weird ass animals. Everything is trying to kill you, there's hot chicks everywhere, you drink your faces off, this place is intense!". This made the crowd rowdy, but in a positive and atmospheric way.
You've Got Something To Die For was a huge crowd pleaser which saw the mosh pit in absolute chaos, and all of those seated standing and head-banging. With ten minutes to spare of their set, Blythe asked the crowd if they wanted more and received an insane response of supportive screaming.
As the night drew to an end and crept on the closing number, Blythe affectionately thanked and acknowledged Meshuggah for supporting their tour. "Fucking Meshuggah. The Beatles played on this very stage in 1964. I wonder what John Lennon and Paul McCartney would think of Meshuggah" [laughs].
After closing with one of their biggest hits Redneck, Blythe thanked the Melbourne crowd, his sincerity expressed joyfully: "Thank- you Melbourne. You Aussies are my favourite people. And you're all fucking criminals!".
Adrianna Connelly
As lead vocalist Jens Kidman greeted the crowd, I was surprised by his cool accent, much softer than his voice in a musical screaming and growling context.
As each track met completion the crowd would just chant and scream for more. Their incredible lighting supported Meshuggah’s popularity with the Melbourne crowd effectively. Fire-esque beams lit up in correspondence with instruments played. The lighting only got more and more impressive, with a ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ mechanism where dusty lights would transform the musicians into silhouettes.
This was particularly incredible during build ups where the lighting would only capture drummer, Tomas Haake during vocal breaks, creating a fierce anticipatory atmosphere of what was to come next.
The album, and single-continuous suite ''Catch thirty-three'' definitely proved to steal the show of Meshuggah's whole performance. With pillers of light beaming on par with guitar chords in complete darkness, the crowd was engaged tremendously. As the lighting dimmed, all that could be seen were the hands of fans in the air saluting the sign of the horns. This was a great note for Meshuggah to end their set on, leaving the crowd even more eager for Lamb of God to grace the stage.
When Lamb Of God opened, flashing lights kept the crowd on their toes as singer Randy Blythe appeared screaming "What's up Melbourne!".
The response of the crowd was wild, as the band dove straight into their hit "Reclamation". It was this point in the night that intense moshing and walls of death expanded from the front of the mosh, and dispersed into the entire realm of the floor.
As their engaging opening drew to an end, Blythe showed excitement when bonding and interacting with the crowd: "How the fuck are you feeling Melbourne.. It's like a fucking bogan extravaganza in here!" This attitude was playfully appreciated and embraced by the crowd.
Before Blythe continued the set, he was clear to outline and acknowledge moral responsibility as a person, and as an entertainer: "You all know what happened, I'm not here to preach. But if you see somebody fall down, help them up- we aren't here to see anybody get hurt, we are here to have a good time". Blythe was of course referring to an incident dating back to a 2010 show in the Czech Republic, in which a fan died after serious head injuries. Blythe was charged with manslaughter two years later, but cleared of all charges. "Australia is my favourite place in the world to tour. We would have been back sooner if it weren't for legal difficulties".
As their set continued, there wasn't a person in the room shy of head-banging to tracks such as Take a walk with me, Sick to death, The undertow, and more.
Blythe spoke with clarity and passion when interacting with the crowd, reinforcing a bond with his Australian fans: "I would never bullshit to an audience and tell them hey, you are the coolest city ever! when you aren't. Australia you are our favourite country to tour. You have some weird ass animals. Everything is trying to kill you, there's hot chicks everywhere, you drink your faces off, this place is intense!". This made the crowd rowdy, but in a positive and atmospheric way.
You've Got Something To Die For was a huge crowd pleaser which saw the mosh pit in absolute chaos, and all of those seated standing and head-banging. With ten minutes to spare of their set, Blythe asked the crowd if they wanted more and received an insane response of supportive screaming.
As the night drew to an end and crept on the closing number, Blythe affectionately thanked and acknowledged Meshuggah for supporting their tour. "Fucking Meshuggah. The Beatles played on this very stage in 1964. I wonder what John Lennon and Paul McCartney would think of Meshuggah" [laughs].
After closing with one of their biggest hits Redneck, Blythe thanked the Melbourne crowd, his sincerity expressed joyfully: "Thank- you Melbourne. You Aussies are my favourite people. And you're all fucking criminals!".
Adrianna Connelly