Hey. Are your ears ringing or is it just mine? It’s probably not just mine, actually. Anybody who saw Mastodon last night will recognize the familiar “waaaaaaa” that’s gradually getting fainter and fainter as the day goes on but will still likely be there tomorrow if not for the next six weeks. So how was the show? Were they good? Was it cool seeing Crack the Skye played from start to finish? Yes and yes. In fact, I felt like the seven songs and fifty-odd minutes that made up the Skye set actually flew by. I don’t think they were necessarily jacking up the tempo (like they did when they piledrove their way through “The Wolf is Loose”) but for some reason it just moved by really quickly. Whatever the case, I think it was a smart decision to play the album like that for this tour. I didn’t hear anyone complaining and the songs really do work quite well as a complete unit. There was a video companion that had some crazy footage of what looked like Rasputin and soldiers and ladies in weird headpieces and other sorts of imagery that fit in with the Russian-space vibe of many of the album’s songs. I’m sure you can find clips on YouTube if you’re curious. All of the songs were performed really well, though I think bassist-singer Troy Sanders’s voice struggled a little with doing double duty on the title track (the verses are sung by Scott Kelly of Neurosis on the album). As for guitarist-singer Brent Hinds…well, I simply couldn’t hear his voice. I mean, I know it was there and I knew a lot of the words he was supposed to be singing, but it was hard to pick out of the mix. And that brings me to my overall complaint about this show:
Volume.
I know I’m likely to get railed for this because I was dumb enough not to bring earplugs, but the show was too loud. And if it was loud and just hurt my ears that would be one thing – but this was loud to the point where I felt it diminished the quality of Mastodon’s sound. It was loud to the point where I could see these guys on stage putting their all into some very complicated individual parts, but what greeted my ears was a ringing wall of murkiness. There was little to no separation of the instruments to my ears and that’s a real shame, I think, because of exactly how great the guys in Mastodon are at their individual instruments. As I said above, I couldn’t make out Brent’s voice very well but I also had a hard time hearing all those insane fills that drummer Brann Dailor is known for (and ironically, I could hear his voice quite well and he did a great job). I don’t know if this is just a thing with the Orange Peel or maybe the sound guys for Mastodon were still in stadium mode but having seen Satyricon and Cradle of Filth there recently I felt like last night’s gig was much, much louder and worse off because of it. I actually now kind of wish I could see Mastodon in a stadium instead of a club, and I never ever prefer to see bands in stadiums because of the distance and less intimate nature of the venue. But I have a feeling that I would be able to hear them much better in a venue that was larger and after all that’s why I was there in the first place: to hear them. I definitely felt them play last night. But hear them? I don’t know. I heard something…
What’s really kind of crazy about this is that after Kylesa played I immediately turned to Mrs. Holepuncher and said “I think that’s officially the loudest band I’ve ever heard in my life.” (And keep in mind I’ve seen AC/DC who blasted off a freaking canon on stage) I chalked this up mainly to the fact that Kylesa uses two drummers, but regardless the volume was not the detriment to their music that it was for Mastodon. Kylesa songs are built mainly upon sludgy power chords and riffs and those huge drum sounds. Their guitarists don’t launch into the same noodly harmonies that Mastodon does so well, and as such I had no problem distinguishing instruments in Kylesa. I could hear both singers and thought they sounded great. Same goes for the two drummers, who you really have to see – they actually sort of share one big drum set in a weird way but were just in dead-on unison the entire time. In a word, Kylesa killed it. Really strong performance from them and I’d eagerly fork over the dough to see them again (albeit, with some heavy duty earplugs). We missed part of first opener Intronaut, but they too were impressive. Just looking at them you’d never guess in a million years that those dudes could make such a heavy sound (and you can find a vid for their song “Australopithecus” in this post a few days back). I don’t think there was a single tattoo among them, which is kind of refreshing. They have some rather intricate dual guitar parts to their music and I felt like their sound was at a perfect volume and mixed really well. Really good bass player in that band, as well, for all you four string junkies out there.
So anyway, the conclusion of this review basically amounts to this one argument: if you’re using volume at a level that makes it difficult to hear, then doesn’t that defeat the purpose of using volume in the first place??? The long and short of it is that you should always wear earplugs, I guess (though I think it’s unfortunate that this is a requirement for good sound). Not only will your hearing be better off, but you’ll actually be able hear the musicians you’re paying to hear play. My admiration for Mastodon and the Orange Peel only suffered a slight blow in the grand scheme of things. My hearing will return and I feel fortunate to have seen Mastodon at all and in my not-so-large hometown, no less. But, that said, I’m actually really excited to see them on Letterman tonight so that I can hear what I missed. And that’s kind of insane.
Mastodon set list:
Oblivion, Divinations, Quintessence, The Czar, Ghosts of Karelia, Crack the Skye, the Last Baron, Bladecatcher, Colony of Birchmen, the Wolf is Loose, Crystal Skull, Capillarian Crest, Iron Tusk, Megalodon, Seabeast, March of the Fire Ants. I may have the order wrong after Skye, but I think that’s pretty close. Great list even if no “Blood and Thunder” or “Sleeping Giant.” Can’t have ‘em all.
All right. No video today. My ears need the rest. More Monday…
