Pros and cons at Mastadon
19 May 2010, 23:29
Sat 15 May – Mastodon, Between the Buried and Me, Baroness, Valient Thorr
When I heard about this show months previous, I was pretty excited. "Wow! Mastodon?! With Between The Buried And Me?! And Baroness?!?!?! And Valient Thor - however the fuck they are? Schweet!!!" My anticipating began to itch as if it were an irritating rash once the month of May rolled around, mostly for BTBAM. I couldn't wait to once again witness their incredible technical prowess, and this time with decent supporting acts (the first time I saw them was with Bleeding Through, Still Remains, and Haste The Day - bah, christcore). However, from the get-go, I knew that there would be drawbacks.
First of all, the venue: The Sokol Auditorium. Sokol is famous for it's horrendous sound quality (for example, I think I saw In Flames there a couple of years ago, but I couldn't be sure - all I heard was a 120 dB distorted hiss for 90 minutes), and also it's Israel - Gaza strip border crossing level security. Post 9/11 airports have nothing on these guys. I've never been to a venue where all patrons are segregated by sex, and then have their genitalia fondled in a fruitless attempt to find dope and weapons. Thirdly, and this tidbit of info I received only days before the show, was that Mastodon would be playing Crack The Skye in its entirety. YAWN! "Crack The Sky" is Mastodon's "Division Bell", and I think I'm being generous with that one.
Well, the night of the concert came, and my wife, a friend, and myself arrived just in time to see Valient Thor hit the Stage. What a joke! Literally! Valient Thor is a joke band, comprised of overtly ironic hipsters, sporting ZZ Top beards, and from what I can tell, all their songs are about movies and video games from the 1980's. Let us not also forget that they suck. Imagine Everytime I Die having drunken sex with Dangerous Toys and then falling flat from whiskey dick. I almost walked out when I heard the lead singer ramble on about "Robocop" and "future police" for what seemed like a week and a half, but thought better of it, knowing that Baroness would hit the stage next.
Let me say that first of all, I've been listening to Baroness's "Red Album" and have been enjoying it. "Eh, not too bad for stoner metal" I would say. Holy christ on a stick was I wrong! Baroness literally give you the high of eating mushrooms while listening to them play live without any of the embarrassing side effects. Their tasteful, droning use of feedback was mind expanding, and they played without so much as taking a breath for a good 45 minutes. I was breathless and blown away, and had to step out for a moment, where I witness a guy do an epic reverse fountain puke, but I digress...
Next up was Between The Buried and Me, and I was jumping and screaming like a 12 year old girl at a Jonhas Brothers show. They certainly did not disappoint, playing a mix of standards, and wisely concentrating on the "Alaska" album, including the heart-wrenching "Selkies: The Endless Obsession".
Finally, we had Mastodon. And, yes, "Crack The Sky" was there in all it's un-glory: the awkward vocal harmonies, the guitar riffs that go absolutely nowhere, and the "so heady that I don't even think they get it" concepts. Bah! The only thing that saved them was Brann Dailor's acrobatic drumming and the end medley of their classics, including "Iron Tusk" and "Blood And Thunder". Honestly, the end medley almost made up for "Crap In My Ear" - Oops!, I mean "Crack The Skye".
Overall, this was a great show with a solid lineup, and some other pleasant surprises included a more relaxed security detail (not once did a cop scream at me, we were allowed to step outside for air and cigarettes), the upper balcony was open (I've never seen this), and no gay-tarded scene kids fighting invisible ninjas to be found. It's rare that the only complaints about a show at the Sokol Auditorium I have had to do with the set list, but this was one of those shows. Hopefully this will represent a turnaround.