Monster Magnet & Those Damn Crows, Kentish Town Forum, London
Playing Powertrip in full, Monster Magnet dropped off in the UK for three dates, one of which was at the 02 Forum in Kentish Town. Support came from rising Welsh stars Those Damn Crows (7) who were a surprise choice given the stoner rock of the headliners. With a decent amount of time for their slot, TDC hit the stage promptly at 8pm and despite a far from full venue, demonstrated why their stock has risen so rapidly in the last 18 months. They are virtually unrecognisable from the band that I saw play in Pwllheli in 2017, but that is to their credit as their hard work on the road has turned the band into a polished machine. Focusing their set on songs from Murder And The Motive this was a win win for the Bridgend boyos and they took it with open arms. Shane Greenhall rarely stops for breath, a human dynamo as he scurried stage left, stage right, photo pit, front barrier and upper tiers of the balcony. It was a relief when he finally hit the piano towards the end of the set and slowed down for a minute. Whilst TDC’s music is certainly aimed at the Planet Rock audience there is enough muscular riffing to encourage much nodding around the filling venue. New album Point Of No Return is due out on Feb 7th and the new songs sounded good. Snippets of classic music in the shape of Pinball Wizard and Live And Let Die were weaved into tracks, knowing nods identifying the homage. Those Damn Crows are heading skyward and whilst their music isn’t always to my tastes, I can only applaud their ethic and effort.
Monster Magnet (9) have been ploughing their trade for over 30 years, with founder Dave Wyndorf the sole survivor from those early days. Powertrip was their fourth album and the one that pushed them forward commercially. It’s amongst my favourite all time releases, crammed to the brim with classic songs. With a solid line-up since 2013, Monster Magnet may not have anything to prove but they were intent on putting yet another marker down. Wyndorf may have added some wood since those early days, but he looked fit, located centre stage with red spotlight focused on him so providing an eerie image. Around him guitarists Phil Caivano and Garrett Sweeny worked tirelessly, shredding for fun. With three guitars the riffs rained down and the intensity of the pit slowly increased. Crushingly heavy on songs like Tractor, Magnet raced through Powertrip, daring to vary the order to provide additional depth.
After Atomic Clock, Crop Circles and Tractor had raised the temperature, the band eased into cruise and threw out classic after classic. Baby Götterdämmerung was superb, the sludgy waltz of Bummer a real flash back to 1998 whilst the closing part of the set was inevitably the monster duo of Space Lord and Powertrip which ensured more flailing limbs in the pit. The four track encore included Twin Earth from Superjudge, a cover of Robert Calvert’s The Right Stuff before the anthemic Look To Your Orb For The Warning and a blistering Negasonic Teenage Warhead concluded a mighty evening. Sometimes you don’t need a massive setlist. This was ample and more would have just been greedy. They may be in their latter years, but even at 63, Wyndorf and Monster Magnet show little sign of stopping.
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