Mastodon at Ogden Theatre
You missed it!
Mastodon played the Ogden Theatre last night and you didn’t go. You should have, but you didn’t. Unless you did, in which case this is not for you; you already lived it. But for those of you who just like to read about Mastodon while keeping a safe distance, this is your version of a live show.
After Red Fang’s set, it was revealed that The Dillinger Escape Plan has a roadie whose primary job is to keep expensive equipment from falling over on to either of two hyperactive guitarists when they decide to jump on it. He did his job. No equipment appeared to be harmed during DEP’s set.
Enough about the openers. There is a reason Mastodon is headlining: They fucking rock.
A pair of songs from their latest album, The Hunter—“Bone Dry Valley” and “Black Tongue”—served as Mastodon’s openers. They avoided the dangerously long tracks from Crack The Skye altogether, leaving time for songs from Blood Mountain instead of 10-plus-minute epics.
It seems like Mastodon is still getting a handle on the new material. Most of the songs from The Hunter were a bit slower and a little less harmonious than the recorded versions, but “Curl Of The Burl” and “Spectrelight” jammed nonetheless. The pine-fresh visuals that accompanied the former song were spot-on.
The band has a handle on the older material, though, and that handle is a throttle. Tracks like “Aqua Dementia” and “March Of The Fire Ants” hauled ass. The night ended with the audience’s full participation, screaming the chorus of “Blood And Thunder.”
It was disappointing not to get an encore, but since Mastodon came out and fucking rocked for 90 minutes without much of a break (literally a few seconds to say something only vaguely coherent about occupation, participation, and masturbation), it was something you were willing to let slide. You know, if you went.
