MESHUGGAH Tears Up The West Coast! Seattle Gig Review - 1/24/18
Meshuggah
Code Orange
Toothgrinder
Showbox at The Market
Seattle, WA
1/24/18
Greetings,
The show Wednesday on Meshuggah's short run of west coast dates before departing for the ocean views aboard the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise was epically fucking brutal.
Normally I don't like to use that word as it's been so over used to describe death metal shows or heavy bands in general but that's the word that comes to mind when I think about last night's show.
The beauty of the lineup was that they were all unique in their own way yet equally - yeah - brutal.
Toothgrinder hit the stage first for a 30-minute set of high-energy music. If you want to get the crowd going, especially as the opening act, dive into the audience like Toothgrinder did before the first song is played. I've never seen that at a show. It was a great way to make people pay attention to you - I know I did.
The five piece played their instruments well. They've been grinding it out on the road and it shows. Their brand of music - I'm not going to try to genre-base it - got the energy way up and that just set the stage for the next act.
Code Orange obliterated the Showbox. Hardcore as a foundation with other elements of metal and industrial mixed in, Code Orange let loose on stage like it was their last performance ever. Hardcore kicks, thrashing about, and playing with pin-drop precision, the pit really got going during their set with many a mosher carried over the barricade up front. Their 40-minute set was pure fire. How do you top that performance?
You send the headliner Meshuggah up to seal the deal.
The Swedes walked onto a familiar stage, complete with a high tech light show that just enhanced their performance (maybe not for the photographers in the pit but that's not who the light show is for). Back lit with streams of light piercing the audience, Meshuggah left no doubt who was the top dog at this concert.
Many more surfers ended up over the barricade while the band played a wide variety of tunes from their vast catalog. By the end of the show, everyone in the crowd was deliriously happy and sweaty as all get out.
Like I said, it was one Hell of a brutal concert. No weak links among any of the three touring bands. The show was sold out in advance - deservedly so. Everyone got what they paid for. If you didn't, you fucked up.
Cheers!
Mark Sugiyama
Eclectic Arts
Special Thanks: Kristin for the credentials as well as Katy for the credentials - I really appreciate it!
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