Last night marked an incredibly rare opportunity as metal icons Machine Head played an intimate "An Evening With" show at the Brighton Music Hall in Allston, Massachusetts. As is the case with most special event shows, "An Evening with Machine Head" ended up being one for the annals.
As a reference point, the last time I saw Machine Head headline in February 2012 was at the 2000-capcity Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts, so seeing them in a 500-person venue was almost unfathomable to me. When this show got announced in November, I was in sheer disbelief that they were playing at such a tiny venue. It honestly didn't even hit me until I walked into the venue last night that it was really happening.
Machine Head took the stage promptly at 8:00 and launched into their longtime set opener "Imperium" from their 2003 record Through the Ashes of Empires. Right away, the sold-out crowd launched into an all-out frenzy. The tiny, densely packed space made the trademark whirlwind energy of Machine Head shows even more electric than usual. The energy and vibe Machine Head shows have are always amazing, but the most impressive aspect of their shows is how great they sound. Vocalist/rhythm guitarist Robb Flynn gets a lot of criticism for his off-stage persona and frequent nonsensical, expletive-filled online ramblings, but there's no denying that he is a top-notch performer. There's only a handful of frontmen in all of metal that work a crowd as well as him and he still sounds amazing vocally at age 47. 20+ years of performing hasn't wore down Flynn in the slightest and I'd be surprised if he suddenly started failing to deliver the goods anytime soon. Flynn is backed up by the highly underrated guitar/drum duo of Phil Demmel and Dave McClain. How Demmel and McClain aren't brought up in the greatest modern metal musicians conversation is just ridiculous to me. Watching these guys own their respective instruments is one of the greatest pleasures of seeing Machine Head live. The only small complaint I have is the setlist mostly lacked the rarities Flynn promised when the tour was announced. Outside of "Bite the Bullet", "Now I Lay Thee Down" and the four tracks from their new album Bloodstone & Diamonds, all of the material they played is typically in their setlist. I can't complain too much though because they played for two hours and the set still contained a lot of the best material from their 2007 masterpiece The Blackening ("Halo" is still one of the most epic live songs of all-time,) and a few of their essential '90s classics such as "Davidian" and "Ten Ton Hammer". Machine Head put on a phenomenal performance that is a near-lock to be one of the best I see in 2015.
Score:
Machine Head 9.5/10
Setlist:
Imperium
Beautiful Mourning
Now We Die
Bite the Bullet
Locust
From This Day
Ten Ton Hammer
Darkness Within
Bulldozer
Killers & Kings
Davidian
Sail Into the Black
Now I Lay Thee Down
Aesthetics of Hate
Game Over
Old
Halo
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