An Evening with Machine Head is exactly how you would envision such a tour name. No openers, no bullshit, only pure metal and chaos. On a breezy autumn night in New England, roughly 1000 Machine Head fans secured there place inside the packed theater and went for a wild ride.
Beginning the night promptly at 8:30pm, Machine Head graces the stage with mysterious lights, fog, and riffs that fright. It was mischief night, typically you’d find toilet paper hanging in the trees, houses being egged, and plenty of tricks to follow for such a spooky time of year. Well, luckily for the diehards, MH brought that vibe and brought the holiday indoors.
With a Setlist containing 23 songs and opening the night with a sample of Ozzzy’s “Diary of a Madman,” the night was packed tight with breakdowns, harmonies, and even a killer drum solo by none other than Dave McClain.
Strategically plucking three songs from their latest release, Catharsis, these pieces added to the feel of what was really going on. The future of Machine Head in that exact moment was flashing before your eyes, not knowing what’s to come. With the imminent departure of Phil Demmel and Dave McClain when this tour ends, we can only wonder what’s in store for Machine Head, and honestly, what will the feel be without two essential pieces?
Even with these thoughts looming overhead, it didn’t consume the whole evening, there were times where Vocalist Robb Flynn addressed the fans and told them what was up and his exact relationship with the other band members, and there were times where it was just straight fuel on a fire with the music.
Rocking the hit “Is There Anybody Out There?” midset, then straight into “Locust” is exactly what made the blood pump.
Machine Head played for a solid two hours before their first break from the stage. They left and came back to play two encores. The first was filled with longer than average set, including “Descend the Shades of Night,” “None but My Own,” “Aesthetics of Hate,” “Game Over,” and “Old.”
The last song of the evening, and quite possibly the real definition of Machine Head was “Halo.”
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