The opening night of the Mastodon tour! If you don’t count the secret Atlanta warm up show that is, which got everyone even more excited for the tour given that Baroness’s main man John Baizley would be joining Mastodon during the tail end of their set to play some of the older, classic material. How was it? In a word, amazing. Mastodon blew me away. I know everyone misses Brent, and I do too, but this band, in this form, is on an entirely other plain.
Let’s start with the French black/shoegaze band, Alcest (8), who went on first. I was super excited to see them for the first time and they did not disappoint. You get blasted by a wall of sound of guitars for 40 minutes, except for the minimal, very polite, interaction. The music filled up the whole room, heavy and beautiful, even if I don’t speak a lick of French. I think they gained some new fans on this day and I would love to see a headlining Alcest set.
Deafheaven (7) was up next. I had seen them before at Welcome To Rockville but they got more time in the second slot on this night. I am stealing this from someone, but I love the “Warped Tour Black Metal” description of the band. The lead singer has a ton of passion, almost too much and a bit too “how you doin’ Orlando???” for my taste, but they were fun, energetic, heavy as hell, and the crowd was down for it, given the pits and the crowdsurfing. I preferred their Joy Division clone era, but that is me. I am never going to sit and listen to a Deafheaven record, but I would watch them on any bill they were on.
Now, Mastodon (10). I got to see them playing a short festival set, but this was the first time in a long time as headliner. This was easily in the top 5 shows I have seen this decade. The energy, the crowd, the imagery on the screen, the stacked setlist, all of this. The band seemed like they were genuinely having a great time, and the crowd ate it up. Nick Johnston is not Brent, but he is a super talented, next level player who fits in perfectly with the other guys in the band. He is a super nice dude too, as I got to chat with him for a couple of minutes. He did everything he should, stepping into a tough role, and he nailed it. Troy sounded great, and the band was super tight.
They played a nice mix of their discography, including a few from the new record, Marrow Deep (it rules). and the fans not only enjoyed it but sang along. Not gonna lie, I fanboyed out when Baizley mosied onto the stage mid song during the live debut of Snakes For Dinner. He got a proper intro from Troy and promptly broke into the classic Curl Of The Burl. The last half of the show was epic, with Baizley adding his guitar and vocals to some of the band’s biggest songs, like Oblivion and The Czar, closing the set with a gigantic pit-generating Blood And Thunder.
Go see Mastodon. They are in their prime, the new material is great, they are playing an amazing, wide ranging set, the guys are having fun, and John Baizley. A great night with possibly the world’s best metal band.
Go see Mastodon. They are in their prime, the new material is great, they are playing an amazing, wide ranging set, the guys are having fun, and John Baizley. A great night with possibly the world’s best metal band.
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