machinehead

» Machine Head 2004 11 11

Reviewed by Thomas
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Special guests: God Forbid + Caliban
City: Gothenburg, Sweden
Venue: Trädgårn
Date: 11 Nov 2004
Machine Head setlength: 85 minutes
Caliban setlength: 40 minutes
God Forbid setlength: ?? minutes

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God Forbid

American death metal act God Forbid turned out to be a really positive surprise for me. Not much of leads and harmonies, but a great and genuine effort from the band that did all they could despite the small and not so enthusiastic crowd. Convincing death metal with some occasional N.Y. hard core influences from a band that made it obvious that they where enjoying being on stage and with what they were doing. And for some reason they went on stage earlier than the time that was printed on my ticket so unfortunately I missed a great part of their performance. But with what I got to see and hear, they definitely gained a new fan in me.

6 chalices of 10

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Caliban

When a band is fully concentrated on the handling of their instruments and busy looking cool and angry it gives you stage presence zero. And that was just the case with the German hard-core band Caliban. To me it was more about attitude then of music, and for me, which generally has a hard time taking in this kind of music, that approach made me very bored, very fast. But by the looks of it, with some of the reception they got, I guess many people appreciates this more than me, and I really don’t think they did a bad concert according to their standards. But this wasn’t my bag, so I went for a cup of coffee instead to help me avoid falling to sleep, while I wondered if I should have gone to the concert with Sonata Arctica instead, since they were also giving a concert this evening just a couple of stone-throws away from where I was.

2 chalices of 10

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Machine Head

Finally Rob and the guys came back to town. I missed them the last time they were here and had to wait for about eight long years for them to return so that I could get to see Machine Head in action. And it was a dynamic performance from a band that was remarkably tight in their performance. It started mighty with the track Imperium from their latest album Through The Ashes Of Empires, but it took yet another couple of songs before the concert was really starting to get lively and fuelled up. Despite how much Rob Flynn was firing up the crowd it didn’t get really going before a kick ass version of Days Turn Blue To Grey.

And from there it was mostly really great as Rob Flynn had the crowd in his hands, and with their classic break-through track Davidian and a great and speeded version of The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears, there wasn’t much that could go wrong for Machine Head. Descend The Shades Tonight turned out to be even more powerful as well as beautiful live than what it is on album, and even though I wasn’t completely satisfied with the setlist, I felt that I did the right choice to go and see Machine Head instead of Sonata Arctica.

They did a great job, but in a way it felt like a day at the job. A good day though, but still stuck in some routine. Main-man Rob Flynn stands for the most obvious energy on stage, while the other guys are letting him be in the focus while they themselves move around on their spot on the small stage looking both happy to be there as well as determined to deliver one helluva great concert. And there was also great connection with the audience from all of the guys in the band, which all made a great effort of giving us the best of what they had.

7 Chalices of 10

SETLIST (might be slightly inaccurate)

Imperium
Seasons Wither
Old
Bulldozer
Days Turn Blue To Grey
The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears
Ten Ton Hammer
The Burning Red
In The Presence Of My Enemies
Scars
Descend The Shades Tonight
Davidian
Block