Machine Head

I went to see An Evening With Machine Head last night in Cardiff, Monday 14th May 2018. There were no support bands and wasn’t much waiting around, just about three hours of Machine-Fucking-Head (as they like to be called).

After playing some Slipknot, Metallica and Killswitch Engage songs over the PA, and coming on to ‘Diary Of A Madman’ by Ozzy, the band took the stage. It was all decked out in cool mats and banners with the band’s iconography on it, there were no visible amps as it was all covered in screens which were white and blood stained, the drum kit was even white. I think at other shows the band might’ve been dressed white as well but they were dressed normal tonight.

The audience reaction was really great. I’ve seen Machine Head twice before and in the UK they are utterly beloved, so you can imagine how good the energy in the room was.

The night held a mixture of old and new, fast and slow, heavy and quiet. They played a decent chunk of their controversial (but excellent) new album Catharsis, which I appreciated as although I thought it was good on first impressions, it has been my car album ever since and in work that is the soundtrack to driving and I’ve really come to love it over the months. They played 6 whole songs of it, which is a pretty good showing for a new album. The audience reacted really well to the new material and the sing-alongs to songs like ‘Kaleidoscope,’ ‘Catharsis’ and even the controversial ‘Triple Beam’ were all just as good as fan favourites like ‘Bulldozer,’ ‘Take My Scars’ or ‘The Blood The Sweat The Tears.’ There was one typical meathead guy just shouting ‘Davidian!’ all night, but he was a small minority, the new stuff went over really well. Take that internet trolls.

The audience lapped up stuff of the classic albums like Burn My Eyes and The Blackening, reacted very well to material off my favourite album Unto The Locust and went mental for even stuff off the controversial albums like The Burning Red and Supercharger (yes even the much bemoaned rapping in From This Day, their late ’90s single which is often complained about by the bullet belt crowd. Hey, I love it and I showed up in a patch jacket full of Forbidden, Exodus and Testament patches). The only point in the evening was when it dipped was for the new ballad ‘Behind A Mask’ (which I loved and happily sang along to) but which seemed to die on its ass. One mosh-pit enthusiast turned to me and yelled, ‘this is why we have support bands!’ – meaning he didn’t like it. But to be fair the crowd might have just been tired from banging around for two and a half hours and just having heard ‘Davidian’ 19 songs into the otherwise crushing and energetic set.

There were all the songs I can’t live without nowadays like ‘Locust’ ‘Game Over’ ‘Killers And Kings’ ‘Aesthetics Of Hate’ and ‘Imperium’ (I think I’d cry if I saw Machine Head and they didn’t play all of those) as well as the old reliable tracks like ‘Old’ & ‘Ten Ton Hammer.’ They even threw in ‘None But My Own’ off the debut which they didn’t play either time I saw them before which was a nice change.

The way the lighting works, with green for Locust era songs, Orange for Burn My Eyes era songs and Red for Burning Red songs is really cool, and with occasional towers of smoke and a very enthusiastic band interacting constantly with each other and the crowd, it is a joy to watch. You catch little bits like Phil and Dave making faces at eachother or Phil tuning Robb’s tuning peg in the middle of a part for laughs and you can tell they’re having fun. Although not new anymore, the new-ish bassist Jared MacEachern has such a great stage presence and is a perfect fit for the band, just like how Phil was when he joined and now you can’t imagine the band without him.

As for the performances; pure flipping magic! Watching Dave McClain drum is like watching a science experiment on a voodoo ritual. The man comes up with some bonkers patterns and just the best fills, and its hard not to spend the majority of the concert air drumming. The guy is a beast.

The vocals from all three stringed players were great, and Rob really holds up live. He is a brilliant frontman, you get peaks of it on the old live at brixton DVD and the live CDs but in person its a whole other level, he is the perfect mixture of grateful and humble but also commanding and dominating. Its awesome.

Apart from one or two very minor technical issues, the music was amazing. (I think Phil either broke a guitar string or had faulty equipment once as he dissapeared off stage briefly once). The jaw dropping guitar solos are such fun and people were singing along to parts like you do for Megadeth. I was in such a good spot – second row from the front, just left of centre – so could see everyone perfectly and see every little detail of the fretboards and drum kit. The venue has the stage quite close and low to the crowd so you really get to see everything and it was visually the best concert I’ve seen for a band of this size. You could practically make out their nose hair it was that good a view.

Considering Machine Head don’t have that many short songs, and played long tracks like ‘Clenching The Fist Of Dissent’ and ‘Halo,’ having 26 songs live was incredible value for money. Considering how ridiculously good the band are live it was anyway, but the sheer quantity as well as the spectacular quality make this one of the finest live concerts I’ve ever seen… Sometimes I’ve seen bands I love and been underwhelmed by sound, setlist choice or performance (see Monster Magnet for all the that one time when I was in Uni, or Slipknot when they supported Metallica that one time back in Dublin where the soundguy fucked them over and they only had a very short set) but with Machine Head everything has been amazing. Like Saxon, I’ve never seen them anything less than amazing and been totally satisfied.

If you get the chance, see this band live!

Ps. Shout out to the Cardiff audience members in the That’s Not Metal merch, I love that show!

(Origionally written for kingcrimsonprog.wordpress.com)

Going into this, i was super excited to see my favorite band. But nothing could have compared me to the actual experience. It wasnt just a concert. Oh no. It was much, much more. It was a extravagent, bewildering super awesome experience unlike any ive experienced. You may be thinking this is excessive for just a concert. But music has this power to move you. And when your around all those other people, who feel the same as you, it just equals an amazing experience. Everyone was headbanging and jammin and the mosh pits were a great experience. Robb flynn and machine head knew how to move a crowd, and the feeling of excitement emanating from everyone because of the amazing music was quite a sight to behold. Coming off thier 8th studio album release, just in november, i knew they were going to play that album. They chose the perfect amount of songs to play from that album( sail into the black, game over, killers and kings, now we die) and also played thoer big hits, which everyone was hyped for, with a select few other hardcore songs, all in a span of about two and a half hours. Not just the music was amazing. The stage,the people and robb flynns great attitude moved me. He states how much music meant to him and us, which provides for an even better experience. But i could have not had this experince if not for songkick, who foretold me of this concerts. Its an amazig thing thier doing for us. Thank you.

Aside from Pantera, who I never got to see live, Machine Head are my favourite heavy metal band. The Californian thrash titans have always been loved more over here in the UK than in their native US, and singer-guitarist Robb Flynn has said they probably wouldn’t still be going even if it wasn’t for the support they’ve endured over here. I’ve seen them a bunch of times, the first being London’s sadly missed Astoria in 2003 when they were on something of a comeback with their Through the Ashes of Empires album. It was incredible to see them in a relatively intimate environment and songs such as ‘Imperium’ and ‘Descend The Shades Of Night’ were played with such intensity. Since then, Machine Head managed to re-hit the big time with their definitive album The Blackening; an album which finally managed to surpass their debut. Since the release of that record I’ve seen them at Brixton Academy, Hammersmith Apollo (supporting Slipknot) and Wembley Arena, among other shows, and there is no doubt in my mind that they are the most consistent live metal band working today, set apart by their killer riffs and Flynn’s distinctive vocals. Hearing audiences scream back the choruses to ‘Halo’ or ‘Davidian’ is genuinely spine-tingling and there is no better ringleader than Flynn, who can get even the most docile of crowds to form frantic circle pits. Can’t wait to see them again.

So here's the deal. Ive been a Machine Head Fan for more than a decade; being a huge metal fan and growing up in SoCal and all made that easy. I honestly believe they are currently the best metal band on the planet. The show, my first, surprisingly, was everything i could have expected and more.

Vega is a wonderful venue, all around. I started up top because I got there too close to showtime, but quickly realized that there was a great view and sound from everywhere in the building.

After spending the first 1 1/2 hours in the top, i just had to enter the pit for the last 30 of the show. As I get on with age, those pit days are few and far between.

The Danish pits are manageable though, and I am happy I did what I did...rocking out to one of my favorite bands right in front of them til the show ended.

Great views and great acoustics abound, this becomes instantly one of the best shows I have ever been to in my long career of attending live shows.

I believe everyone there would agree.

Are concerts value for money? A big question for many members of the paying public these days.

Rest assured you'll be very, VERY happy with Machine Head.

Starting at 8.45 on heir second night at the London Roundhouse, they produced a good mixture of material from across their catalogue of tracks including from new album Bloodstone and Diamonds. Rob Flynn engaged the audience as well as he ever does, keeping the energy high and the atmosphere pumped up.

Highlights of the night have to be hearing Davidian and Old but a special mention was a mash up of old Pantera songs in respect of Dimebag Darrell's 10 year anniversary of his being laid to rest.

Finishing at 11.15, playing a total of 2 and a half hours and with Darkest Hour offering a decent support, this was genuinely value for money

At first I had mixed emotions when Machine Head announced they were planning to deliver their show in the tiny Astor Theatre... Arriving at the show, it began to make perfect sense!

Astor Theatre provided the perfect venue for Machine Head, the crowd was a perfect size - with a mixture of new and long term fans - and the sound quality was impeccable.

I cannot say enough on how amazing this show was, it will forever be stamped as one of the best live shows I have ever been to!

\m/

I have seen Machine Head many times and have followed them for many years (right form the start to be honest).
This is the first time I have seen them in Perth and what a gig. Right form the 1st beat to last. Robb Flynn and the lads gave it their all.
They are not many bands who can pull off a 3 hour gig and completely destroy all in their wake.
Apart from the odd dickhead in the crowd. It was loud, fast and awesome. THANKS MACHINE HEAD for a great night to remember.

One of the best live bands ever.
If you think you're "only" going to watch a metal band, we'll, you're wrong.
It's more like an interactive gig, you can feel yourself as part of the band.
Great empathy from the beginning to the end.
Plus a four member band with huge talent and incredible skills in each instrument.
If you've never seen them live you should, if you've already been, well, you don't need my advice.
Last metal heroes!

This was my first Machine Head concert but definitely not my last. The band put on an amazing performance. They brought the heavy for 2 1/2 hours. It was loud and intense, everything you could want from a metal show. The band interacted with fans and fed the intense atmosphere with some crazy riffs and a head banging, jump around, horns to the sky performance. 10/10 cannot wait to see them again.

These guys were awesome as expected .They played 22 great songs from half a dozen of their albums and nailed every one of them. I would go again tomorrow .Well done Rob Flynn for being so courageous after the crap you have recently been through just know you are really appreciated .Well done to you and your band for $#%&ing excellent night