I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 1, 2018] Mastodon

I saw Mastodon two years ago.  The band was great, but I left the show somewhat unsatisfied.  Was it the venue (Electric Factory, I think so); was it the crowd (a large and unceasing mosh pit, I think so).

I felt like I wanted to see them again.  But when they came back around a year later, I decided against it.  In part because it was the same venue and in part because it was an all day event with four bands (most of whom I liked, but that’s practically a festival).  A note on the setlist says that Brent Hinds was visibly upset with technical problems the whole show, so I’m glad I didn’t go.  Especially since this show’s setlist was very similar.

When this tour was announced co-headliners Primus and Mastodon, it seemed pretty ideal.  I have been wanting to see Primus and here was redemption for Mastodon–I’ve been pretty happy with the shows I’ve seen at Summer Stage.

Well, a thunderstorm was forecast for the entire day in Asbury Park, so they moved the show inside.  It wound up not raining at all, but you have to make a decision early when you have so much gear and they made the right choice–even if it may not have sounded as good.

I arrived late and missed  the opening band All Them Witches entirely.

But Mastodon sounded great.  The crowd wasn’t that large for them, I was surprised to see.  A largish pit started in the middle but it never really took off that much.  It was nicely contained and I was on the edge of it, where I like to be.

I like nearly everything Mastodon has released, although I don;t really know which album the songs come from.  So I didn’t even realize that so many songs came from their newest album Emperor of Sand (7 of 17).

The one good thing about it being inside is that it was still light out when they went on, but it was dark inside, which meant that their backgrounds and visuals worked well.

Last time I was on the right side facing the stage.  This time I was in front of Brent Hinds.  And although Bill Kelliher is a more mobile guitarist (he doesn’t really sing, so he climbs out by the audience a lot), it was really fun watching Hinds play.  He always seems pretty angry, but I saw him make some funny faces at the audience and even smile once.  His Instagram feed is great too, by the way, and he seems like a really nice guy.

But nice guy or not, it’s all about the music.  And the band sounded fantastic.  Troy Sanders’ unmistakable voice was in great form.  The harmonies from Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor were right on.  And they absolutely rocked.

They opened with “Sultan’s Curse” which features both Troy and Brent on lead vocals.  They followed this new song with one from Crack the Skye (which they didn’t play the last time), “Divinations.”

I didn’t get any good pictures of Kelliher, but I did get this solo from him when he moved briefly to the center stage.

It’s amazing to me that Brann Dailor didn’t sing much on the early records because his voice adds so much to these songs, like “Ember City”  and “Show Yourself.”

It is always fun when Kelliher comes to the middle  Getting to watch these two and their flying fingers was pretty great.

I loved comparing the setlist to the show two years ago and seeing just how many different songs there were between the two (for a band who doesn’t change its setlist much in a tour, this was pretty big).  Sure, most of the different songs were from the new album, but there were two new ones from Crack the Skye and two older songs that resurfaced.

I’m intrigued that there are four songs in a row that they played in the exact same order in both shows, like the amazing “Bladecatcher“–each from a different album which is nice.

I also realized in the comparison that there are songs they didn’t play this time which I would have loved to hear. And yet I didn’t notice at the time, and every new song was exciting to hear.

I had decided a while back that I didn’t want to go to co-headlining shows.  The main reason being that each headlining band gets less time than if they were headlining on their own.  And the band that goes on first always gets less time overall.  Their songs also tend to cater to a more broad audience–fans of the other band as well as their own.

I knew Mastodon was going on first, that was the deal for this tour.  So I didn’t expect a big show.  And there was no encore.  But I see that Mastodon played only one fewer song when at this show than then did at the 2016 show. They cut out a lot of banter and maybe they played shorter songs, but that is a satisfying setlist and a great show overall.  [Curiously, at the 2017 show that I did not go to they played three more songs than at this show].

As with the last time, Dailor came out at the end and said a few kind words and  then threw out his sticks (not to me).

 

Asbury Park, June 2018	Electric Factory, May 2016
Sultan’s Curse [sand]	Tread Lightly [sun]
Divinations [skye]	Once More ‘Round the Sun [sun]
Crystal Skull [blood]	Blasteroid [hunter]
Ancient Kingdom [sand]	Oblivion [skye]
Bladecatcher [blood]	The Motherload [sun]
Black Tongue [hunter]	Chimes at Midnight [sun]
Ember City [sun]	High Road [sun]
Megalodon [leviathan]	Aqua Dementia [leviathan]
Andromeda [sand]	Iron Tusk [leviathan]
Toe to Toes [cold]	Mother Puncher [remiss]
Sleeping Giant [blood]	Halloween [sun]
Show Yourself [sand]	Bladecatcher [blood]
Precious Stones [sand]	Black Tongue [hunter]
Roots Remain [sand]	Ember City [sun]
Ghost of Karelia [skye]	Megalodon [leviathan]
Mother Puncher [remiss]	Crystal Skull [blood]
Steambreather [sand]	encore
	The Czar [skye]
	Blood and Thunder [leviathan]

The Mastodon drum kit lit up and aglow.