Recommended Aussie Tunes:Psycroptic | The new single "A Fragile Existence" | Listen

Live Reviews : Mastodon, Baroness & Gojira @ UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney 24/02/2014

By on February 26, 2014

The moment this tour was announced, I knew without a doubt that I would be there rain, shine or storm.  It’s not every day that you see three of the most creative, metal bands coming together.  Having been a fan of Gojira for a really long time now, almost 6 years, as well as Mastodon and Baroness, I was excited for the night the was ahead of me. I made my way to The Roundhouse, and although this isn’t my favourite venue to go to, it seemed to be pretty perfect for that night!

Mastodon, Baroness and Gojira

First up were, my favourite band of all time, French death metallers  Gojira. As unbiased as I’m trying to be while writing this, they are undeniably one of the best metal bands out there, in a completely different league altogether. The lights dimmed down and forging ahead on stage , the four-piece band from Bayonne, wasted absolutely no time, breaking into  the riveting ‘Explosia’.  If that isn’t a killer start to a set I don’t know what is. It was only 8 and there were heads banging in unison, arms flailing all over the place.  Watching Mario Duplantier  own his kit at supersonic speeds gave me heart palpitations. At one point I was actually trying to spot his drumsticks.  Joe Duplantier’s voice echoed throughout the venue threatening to destroy the walls of the Roundhouse.  “This one is about whales that fly “ cued the intro to my first ever Gojira track, ‘Flying Whales’.  MONSTROUS, is all I can say to describe this song live during which, as a tradition, Joe along with bassist Jean-Michel and guitarist Christian go ballistic on stage, running up and down, guitars in the air, causing the crowd to go mental! I’ve seen videos of this but seeing it live and in the flesh is nothing short of friggin amazing! Needless to say, I went completely apeshit during their set, my head suddenly developing a mind of it’s own. And attempting to detach itself off my neck.  ‘Backbone’ ‘L’Enfant Sauvage’ and ‘The Heaviest Matter Of The Universe’ were some of the other songs of the night, Jean-Michel and Christian Andreu shredding their respective guitars  like it was child’s play.

This band commands the utmost respect from their audience and it was given. Joe was being his humourous self and randomly talked about sharks after a beach visit, and then getting to the point saying that Gojira loved Australia and they’ll be back soon for a headline tour. HELL YES!  I idolize these guys and was pretty gutted when their set was   only 35 minutes. It just  didn’t do justice to the sheer awesomeness of this band.  But complaints aside, it was a brutally tight start to the night and Gojira were flawless.  It was the second time I was seeing them in two days and I can’t wait to catch them in Melbourne.

After a 15 minute wait, members of Baroness appeared on stage, fans yelling in happiness. Word to the wise, before you attend any gig, make sure that you know what members of the bands look like if you’re keen on meeting them. On the way to the venue, I thought that the guy near me looked familiar given that I do fancy black beards on men but I wasn’t sure. Much to my annoyance later, I figured out that it was in fact John Baizley. The melodic intro of ‘Green Theme’ announced the beginning of Baroness’ set and it sounded stunning live, which can be said of the band’s entire performance.  This band has been through quite a lot in the recent past and John being the only remaining member of the original line up, Baroness’ music post Red Album has seen a much more subtle feel.  ‘Take My Bones Away ‘ literally blew me away, just listening to John’s powerful voice, the crowd couldn’t help but sing along to the catchy, emotional chorus. Other tracks played off ‘Yellow and Green’ were ‘March To The Sea’ and the ambient, trippy ‘Cocanium’.  ‘Eula’ was definitely my favourite track of the set, and exhibited the genuinity and uniqueness of this band’s music.

Something that made me appreciate the band even more than I already do is the connection that they seem to have, which just adds that extra awesome factor to their stage presence. There were cheeky smiles and glances being exchanged in between sets especially between Pete Adams and John, you could see that they really enjoyed what they were doing and were more than just a band.  The crowd applauded loudly for these Georgia blokes as they ended their set with the mid-paced, yet gripping ‘Isak’, another standout!  The whole time, I was nothing short of captivated by their performance, enjoying every moment. Hearing tracks off their newer albums live will definitely get people to tune into it more and leave behind the days of Red Album. Baroness, and John Baizley have been through more than what an average fan knows and last night, it was so much more than just a performance. The band are living proof that you can go against all odds and still come out loving life and living it through music.

In all honesty, I would’ve been happy just watching Gojira and heading back home to rest my neck seeing that they put up an absolute banger of a show.  But there was one final act for the night and having never watched Mastodon live before, I was really keen! In my head, I couldn’t help but think how the night could possibly get any better considering the previous two bands.  After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Finally it was time for Mastodon. I’ve been a big fan of these guys for years now ever since I listened to ‘Leviathan’ and needless to say I was pretty psyched when I saw the familiar faces of Troy Sanders, Brett Hinds, Bill Keliher and Brann Dailor.  There’s something special about this band that I’ve never been able to pin point and it’s probably because I fell in love with the stories and concepts behind their music but they have a charismatic aura about them. They came on stage with so much energy, much to the crazed happiness of fans gathered at the Roundhouse. Kicking off with the heavy drones of ‘Black Tongue’,  much of their set centered around their most recent release, ‘The Hunter’,  other tracks including ‘Drybone Valley’, ‘All The Heavy Lifting’, ‘Spectrelight’ and ‘Bedazzled Fingernails’.

Troy Sanders has one of the most versatile and powerful voices ever switching  from raspy vocals to deep, guttural slow growls  effortlessly ‘Stargasm’ was probably one of best tracks performed off that album.  As I was hoping, we got a few songs off ‘Leviathan’ which in my opinion is the best Mastodon album there is. Another fun and impressive thing this band adds is that they all contribute in terms of vocals, and the coordination that goes into just one song is something that makes you wonder how bands like this don’t get the appreciation and recognition they rightly deserve. . They’re also a really entertaining band, Troy slapping his head occasionally with some significance.  Entertainment aside, this band has inspired me in many ways and there’s so much more to their music than just what it seems. The emotion, the message that they’re trying to spread through their music made even more sense to me when watching them live. Brent Hinds guitaring is really something you need to see at least once in your life.  Ending their set with the prolific ‘Blood and Thunder’, hardly a few words being spoken, their music having done all the talking, drummer Dailor who was really sweet, took a minute to thank Sydney for coming out and informed an ecstatic crowd that there was going to be a new album later on in the year. Aggressive, melodic, and just downright intense is as close as I can get to describing how amazing Mastodon were.

Something about the whole night was that it was a good 3.5 hours of pure metal goodness, as all three bands were men of few words and ingenious musical skills. The chatting was kept to a minimum, the focus solely on putting up a good show and that’s exactly what Gojira, Baroness and Mastodon did! I couldn’t possibly imagine a better night and this was definitely one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to!

About

Prarthana is a vegan, Indo-Aussie, heavy music addict, fluent in sarcasm and metal. Traveling is an obsession as she enjoys taking in the history of various countries and following her favorite bands. She's either eating, teaching grammar or learning an instrument, when not occupied with windmilling in the faces of other humans.