Mastodon @ Festival Hall, Melbourne (27/03/2015)
Friday night marked yet another Mastodon visit to Australia, but somehow, their first headlining tour. Less than a year after the release of sixth studio album Once More ‘Round The Sun, Mastodon returned to our shores for a greatly anticipated headlining show. I have seen Mastodon quite a few times since I first saw them with Slayer in 2007 when I was fifteen, but never playing a set as long as they played tonight.
Opening the set with the Tread Lightly, the first track off last years Once More ‘Round The Sun, Mastodon sounded just as tight as they did on album, pulling off all the complex guitar parts and even more complicated drum fills. Bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders shows off improved clean vocals, probably somewhat due to his time singing with Killer Be Killed, who were in Australia recently for Soundwave Festival. |
While the sound wasn’t great, that’s just one of the risks you have in going to a show at Festival Hall, especially seeing a metal band. The venue was operating in a smaller capacity, without any of the seats or balcony accessible, but even with just the floor being used, it’s the biggest show mastodon have played in Melbourne since 2007’s show at Vodafone Arena.
Mastodon are a band that have always taken a very straightforward approach to playing live, with minimal talking and banter between songs, instead playing song after song with barely a chance to recover before the riff of the next song kicks in. Guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher effortlessly trade off riffs, and make what there playing look easy. Mastodon are known for their intense and technical riffage, and seeing some of what the guitarists pull off is a pleasure to see live. While Brent might pull out the more technical lead parts and the solos, Bill is one of my favorite guitarists and his rhythm parts are absolutely integral to the band, and its when you see him live that you realize how important his solid riffage is, under the lead guitar and intricate fills.
The technical proficiency of Mastodon continues to astound me, no matter how many times I see this band. Seeing Brann Dailor effortlessly drum the intro to Megalodon, or singing the chorus of High Road while drumming is something special to see, as he is probably the single most talented drummer I have ever seen live. Over the last three albums, Mastodon have started using Brann for the higher clean vocals, and he is probably the best live vocalist they have, as his vocals actually sound as good live as they do on the albums.
While Mastodon have gotten tighter and tighter musically every time they have toured, it is a common complaint that their vocals have gotten worse as the years go by, but its only half true. From 2006’s Blood Mountain onwards, Brent and Troy moved away from the harsher vocals of Remission and Leviathan they both struggle to do those kinds of vocals live, as seen in older songs like Aqua Dementia. Bill Kelliher is still the most underused vocalist in the band, only doing occasional backing vocals in songs like Blood and Thunder. Unlike the other two, Bill’s harsh vocals haven’t deteriorated over the years, and I really wish he did more vocals in older songs, as his vocals are the most impressive live.
Over the last decade and half a dozen studio albums, Mastodon have progressed from an intense sludge metal band, to being a significantly more accessible hard rock band, and this was a change you could see in the audience, not being filled with the type of people you would typically expect at a metal show. Festival Hall was also all ages for this show, and it seemed there were quite a few underage fans in the crowd.
The set list on Friday night was a fairly even spread throughout all of Mastodon’s studio albums, with a notable exception only being one from 2002’s debut album, Remission. I was a little disappointed, as March of the Fire Ants is definitely considered a fan favourite. While most albums only got a handful of songs each, Mastodon chose to play eight songs from Once More Round The Sun. Singles High Road and The Motherload got the biggest fan reception from this album, with drummer Brann Dailor’s vocals being a high point of these songs. Off the older albums, both Divinations and Oblivion from 2009’s Crack The Skye were played to a large amount of applause, and finishing the set with two songs off fan-favorite album Leviathan and Crystal Skull off Blood Mountain showed that Mastodon still appreciate the older fans in the audience.
After years of waiting for a headline show, Mastodon fans were treated to a show that was definitely worth the wait, as it showed a band fully in their prime. Ignoring needless stage banter, the band instead tore through song after song, showing off both their technical proficiency and increased catchiness on some of the recent singles. While I wished for some more songs off Blood Mountain and Crack The Skye, the show was still great, and it really showed off Mastodon as being the most interesting metal band that are touring at the moment.
Josh Mitrou
Mastodon are a band that have always taken a very straightforward approach to playing live, with minimal talking and banter between songs, instead playing song after song with barely a chance to recover before the riff of the next song kicks in. Guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher effortlessly trade off riffs, and make what there playing look easy. Mastodon are known for their intense and technical riffage, and seeing some of what the guitarists pull off is a pleasure to see live. While Brent might pull out the more technical lead parts and the solos, Bill is one of my favorite guitarists and his rhythm parts are absolutely integral to the band, and its when you see him live that you realize how important his solid riffage is, under the lead guitar and intricate fills.
The technical proficiency of Mastodon continues to astound me, no matter how many times I see this band. Seeing Brann Dailor effortlessly drum the intro to Megalodon, or singing the chorus of High Road while drumming is something special to see, as he is probably the single most talented drummer I have ever seen live. Over the last three albums, Mastodon have started using Brann for the higher clean vocals, and he is probably the best live vocalist they have, as his vocals actually sound as good live as they do on the albums.
While Mastodon have gotten tighter and tighter musically every time they have toured, it is a common complaint that their vocals have gotten worse as the years go by, but its only half true. From 2006’s Blood Mountain onwards, Brent and Troy moved away from the harsher vocals of Remission and Leviathan they both struggle to do those kinds of vocals live, as seen in older songs like Aqua Dementia. Bill Kelliher is still the most underused vocalist in the band, only doing occasional backing vocals in songs like Blood and Thunder. Unlike the other two, Bill’s harsh vocals haven’t deteriorated over the years, and I really wish he did more vocals in older songs, as his vocals are the most impressive live.
Over the last decade and half a dozen studio albums, Mastodon have progressed from an intense sludge metal band, to being a significantly more accessible hard rock band, and this was a change you could see in the audience, not being filled with the type of people you would typically expect at a metal show. Festival Hall was also all ages for this show, and it seemed there were quite a few underage fans in the crowd.
The set list on Friday night was a fairly even spread throughout all of Mastodon’s studio albums, with a notable exception only being one from 2002’s debut album, Remission. I was a little disappointed, as March of the Fire Ants is definitely considered a fan favourite. While most albums only got a handful of songs each, Mastodon chose to play eight songs from Once More Round The Sun. Singles High Road and The Motherload got the biggest fan reception from this album, with drummer Brann Dailor’s vocals being a high point of these songs. Off the older albums, both Divinations and Oblivion from 2009’s Crack The Skye were played to a large amount of applause, and finishing the set with two songs off fan-favorite album Leviathan and Crystal Skull off Blood Mountain showed that Mastodon still appreciate the older fans in the audience.
After years of waiting for a headline show, Mastodon fans were treated to a show that was definitely worth the wait, as it showed a band fully in their prime. Ignoring needless stage banter, the band instead tore through song after song, showing off both their technical proficiency and increased catchiness on some of the recent singles. While I wished for some more songs off Blood Mountain and Crack The Skye, the show was still great, and it really showed off Mastodon as being the most interesting metal band that are touring at the moment.
Josh Mitrou