Just got back from meshuggah and cynic

Jan 25, 2008
835
4
18
Los Angeles, CA
I must say, even though I love cynic's music as it is they suprised the hell out of me. They were by far the most natural sounding live metal band I have ever heard. I really can't even begin to put into words how amazing their performance was so I'll just leave it at that. Meshuggah was a little dissappointing to me. they opened with Pravus, a song I am not too fond of and immediately I noticed the sound was a bit dull, nothing like the last time I saw them with ministry at the same venue. Over all they gave a decent performance but I couldn't help but look back at the show I saw them at a few months ago and think that this performance was a little lack luster by their standards. That being said the crowd was very weak I thought, so maybe meshuggah just wasn't feeling it. I still enjoyed their performance and as always had a great time. too bad my car got towed, luckily my buddy who was at the show was able to drive me home. Sorry for the scrambled wording it's about all I can muster up right now, and for anyone wondering the show was in LA.
 
Dude, you got towed? How come? That fucking sucks, I hope the venue wasn't too far from home! Glad the show was rockin'! I haven't been to a good concert since Sept. '07 (but that one fucking RULED, Insomnium, Swallow the Sun, Scar Symmetry, and Katatonia :headbang: Too bad I had never heard of StS or SS at that point, cuz now I LOVE 'em!! :erk: ), but I'm seeing Soilwork next weekend, which should be good.
 
The venue is relatively far from home but thats not the biggest problem, the biggest problem is that i have to cough up $184 to get my car out today :/. Anyway now that I got some sleep in me I can fill in a few highlights. As i said before cynic was absolutely breathtaking, their live sound is very very close to the sound they got on their new album which is something you don't get to see very often. The drums were especially great sounding, and it didn't seem like they used triggers at all, maybe for the kick but I'm not even sure of that. Meshuggah did some wacky things that looking back on it was pretty cool. For the song combustion they changed the verse riff around so that it grooves like a motherfucker and I wish they would have recorded it that way on the album. They played suffer in truth at what felt like half speed and it was interesting to try and headbang that slowly hah. Anyway have fun at soilwork man, they are always fun. I remember at Wacken this year people were playing rugby in the mud during their set hehe.
 
Damn I'm trying to decide if I should borrow money from my bill funds to try to see Meshuggah and Cynic in Portland on Saturday. Do I want to go? Fucking hell yes. Should I spend the money? Fucking hell no. Should I go? I don't fucking hell know.
 
Just saw the Seattle show last night...
I've never been a big fan of The Faceless, but they play pretty solidly (I've seen then at least once before). I think they've gotten better/more unique since they came onto the scene, but I still think that they could get even better/more unique given more time. We'll see.
Cynic was great! The fretless bass playing was a nice touch. I'd have to second FarBy0ndMetal's statement about them being an extremely natural sounding live band. I love the dynamics in their songs as well...lots of chill, kind of ambient down time with clean guitars. Good vibes. I realize I'm just kind of describing the sound of their music, but I guess my point is that they do everything extremely well in concert. Everyone should check 'em out. I LOL'd when between songs someone in the crowd yelled "FUCK HEADSTOCKS!"... It was also funny right when they started playing, because there was a good amount of younger scene type kids there who were obviously there just to see The Faceless, and when Cynic's vocals kicked in, a lot of them seemed totally perplexed!
Meshuggah...oh boy. I'd seen them once before a few years ago, before I had really given them a listening ear and had really come to appreciate/enjoy their whole approach to music and rhythm, so this time around completely felt like my first time seeing them. They are a BEAST of a band in concert. I thought their guitars were a bit quiet, but it wasn't a big deal. The AxeFX tone was pretty good (Cynic used them as well). I have no idea how many shows I've seen in my life, tons, but Meshuggah probably tops my metal list. I can't say enough good things about the experience! I also can't say I agree with FarBy0ndMetal on the energy (in Seattle at least), it was a sold out, pretty wild show and the whole place was grooving quite intensely, and Meshuggah looked pretty dang energized as well. I love watching those dudes headbang and whatnot, because there are obviously a lot of different ways to divide up their rhythms in order to headbang, so it's cool to see how they themselves feel the music they wrote.

Anyway, go see Meshuggah.
 
when i showed up to the show in san diego the faceless was playing the last song on their set :( it was a bumber because i have wanted to see how well they would perform in comparison with the other bands...

cynic was really great, i agree with the guys above. their new material stood out just as vibrant as the songs off textures live!

i have been into meshuggah for about a little over two years now and i was bumbed that i didnt get to go see them the last time..

i agree on their energy being kinda low key at first, but it the ended up just being really really heavy. i was headbangin so feirce i backwards headbutted some dude at full force OUCH!

but it was totally ok!
 
Just saw the Seattle show last night...
I've never been a big fan of The Faceless, but they play pretty solidly (I've seen then at least once before). I think they've gotten better/more unique since they came onto the scene, but I still think that they could get even better/more unique given more time. We'll see.
Cynic was great! The fretless bass playing was a nice touch. I'd have to second FarBy0ndMetal's statement about them being an extremely natural sounding live band. I love the dynamics in their songs as well...lots of chill, kind of ambient down time with clean guitars. Good vibes. I realize I'm just kind of describing the sound of their music, but I guess my point is that they do everything extremely well in concert. Everyone should check 'em out. I LOL'd when between songs someone in the crowd yelled "FUCK HEADSTOCKS!"... It was also funny right when they started playing, because there was a good amount of younger scene type kids there who were obviously there just to see The Faceless, and when Cynic's vocals kicked in, a lot of them seemed totally perplexed!
Meshuggah...oh boy. I'd seen them once before a few years ago, before I had really given them a listening ear and had really come to appreciate/enjoy their whole approach to music and rhythm, so this time around completely felt like my first time seeing them. They are a BEAST of a band in concert. I thought their guitars were a bit quiet, but it wasn't a big deal. The AxeFX tone was pretty good (Cynic used them as well). I have no idea how many shows I've seen in my life, tons, but Meshuggah probably tops my metal list. I can't say enough good things about the experience! I also can't say I agree with FarBy0ndMetal on the energy (in Seattle at least), it was a sold out, pretty wild show and the whole place was grooving quite intensely, and Meshuggah looked pretty dang energized as well. I love watching those dudes headbang and whatnot, because there are obviously a lot of different ways to divide up their rhythms in order to headbang, so it's cool to see how they themselves feel the music they wrote.

Anyway, go see Meshuggah.

I was at that show. I was kinda irritated at people screaming stuff like "PLAY HUMAN!" to Cynic.

I was struck by the dynamics of the drum sound for Cynic, but I thought the guitar and vocal sounds were overpowered by the kicks.

And what was that on the stand with the talkbox part for Meshuggah? At first I thougth he was playinga KAOSS pad with his nose or something :lol:

Meshuggah was godly.

I missed Faceless, walked in as they were finishing up.