Concerts Attended in 2023:
2/22: Norma Jean/Fire from the Gods/Greyhaven, The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
5/28: Boston Calling Day 3 (Paramore/King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard/Queens of the Stone Age/Maren Morris/Genesis Owusu/070 Shake), Harvard Athletic Complex, Allston, MA
6/7: Drain/Drug Church/Magnitude/Buried Dreams/Gel/Combust, The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
8/20: Gojira/Mastodon/Lorna Shore, MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Boston, MA
9/20: Death Grips, MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Boston, MA
10/5: Yves Tumor/Crack Cloud/Izzy Sparks/Thoom, Roadrunner, Brighton, MA
11/15: Protest the Hero/Moon Tooth/The Callous Daoboys, The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
11/17: Botch/Converge/Cave In, Roadrunner, Brighton, MA
11/28: Baroness/Dropdead/Imperial Triumphant, Royale, Boston, MA
Honorable Mentions: Queens of the Stone Age, Greyhaven, Lorna Shore, Moon Tooth, Drug Church
10.Botch:
Rising from an unmarked grave somewhere in the greater Tacoma area, metal/math core pioneers Botch mounted one of the more unlikely reunion tours in recent memory this year and it was far from just a quick cash grab for its almost AARP-eligible members. While they might get more winded from performing now than they did 20+ years ago when they last toured, they still play with the same level of ferocity and tenacity that made them the godfathers of one of the most distinctly chaotic corners of the entire extreme metal pyramid. It was an honor to see a band that has influenced so many of my favorite acts perform and may they hang it up again soon before they risk losing their signature fire.
9.Genesis Owusu:
As dynamic as his music is on record, the full scope of Genesis Owusu's sound doesn't really come into focus until you see him live. He has this natural charisma, enthusiasm and freeness as a performer that makes his constant experimentation feel so effortless that you'd think it was spontaneous if there wasn't recorded proof that it's not. Hopefully his unique blend of funk, punk, R&B, soul and hip hop will catch on with the masses at some point and launch him to the superstar status he deserves.
8.Norma Jean:
It took me a mighty long time to grow to appreciate Norma Jean and even longer to finally see them headline a show. The wait was well worth it. With a 90-minute, career-spanning rager of a set, Cory Brendan and co. demonstrated why they've been able to remain one of the most consistent bands on the planet for the past 25 years despite a plethora of lineup changes and paradigm shifts within the -core scene. They pour everything they have onto the stage every night, blend heaviness with melody as well as anyone and perhaps most importantly, have so many face-melting riffs and punchy breakdowns in their songs that it's almost silly. Seeing them in a 575-capacity club was just the cherry on top of this magical evening of metal excellence.
7.Converge:
No disrespect to Botch or Cave In, but Converge stole the show at this gathering of metal titans that rose to prominence in the late 90's/early 00's. They basically ripped through their own headlining set by playing for 70 minutes as the direct support act and per usual, managed to eviscerate the room with their raw emotion, technical prowess and Kurt Ballou's colossal guitar tone.
6.Gojira:
It had been nine whole years since I'd last seen Gojira and that long hiatus from seeing them paired with my relative indifference towards their recent output led me to completely forget just how much of a force they are live. The mammoth collection of riffs, blast beats and gruff vocals they churned out over their 80 minutes on stage was incredible to behold and left me feeling like a complete bozo for expecting them to be unable to match the greatness of the bands they shared the stage with.
5.Baroness:
I haven't really enjoyed a Baroness record that's been released since I graduated high school 13 and a half years ago, but they impressed so much when I saw them open for Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage in September 2022 that I decided I needed to see them headline next time they came to Boston. That next time ended up being a few weeks ago and to put it mildly, they delivered. Even songs that I don't particularly enjoy like "Cocanium" and "Anodyne" sounded absolutely immense courtesy of John Baizley's soaring vocals and the hypnotic harmonies and melodies laid down by guitarist Gina Gleason, bassist Nick Jost and drummer Sebastian Thomson. Now that I've seen them twice, I can say with total confidence that I feel that they are an elite live act that I'll happily see whenever I get the chance.
4.Protest the Hero:
A nearly-decade long drought for me seeing Protest the Hero live came to a close last month in triumphant fashion as the band sounded incredible and vocalist Rody Walker delivered plenty of hilarious banter between songs. Fingers crossed it won't take me another 10 years to see them again.
3.The Callous Daoboys:
Coming out and stealing the show with a 30-minute opening set is a difficult thing to do, but boy oh boy did The Callous Daoboys manage to pull it off. Their ability to combine pure eccentricity, frenetic energy and top-notch musicianship into a uniquely thrilling package that made their 30 minutes on stage feel like 5 simply because it was so much fucking fun to watch. Getting the chance to see them in a venue with no barrier-which allowed for plenty of stage-diving, crowd surfing and other similar devil music show shenanigans-made this inaugural experience of seeing them live that much sweeter.
2.Death Grips:
Following the infamous no-show tour they mounted in 2012/13, I thought there was a 0% chance that I'd ever see Death Grips live. 10+ years later, the seemingly impossible actually happened and it was a surreal, incredible experience. There were no openers. Their set started almost 3 hours after the doors opened. The stage was lit like a fucking haunted house. They played about 80% of my favorite material from their catalog. Nearly every song that was driven by synthesizers was expertly reworked with live guitars. Zach Hill smashed the hell out of the drums. MC Ride's rage-fueled rapping/singing was crisp and he never acknowledged the crowd outside of occasionally holding the mic out for people to sing along. And after about 75 nearly uninterrupted minutes of performing, they quietly walked off the stage without saying shit. In other words, it was the perfect Death Grips live experience.
1.King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard:
Many of my favorite concert experiences involve performances that are so transcendent that they made me feel like I was having a full-blown out-of-body experience while watching it. King Gizzard is not only joining this esteemed list, they're going straight to the tippy top-tier. The endearing bizzaro psychedelic magic of their music hits such a critical level in a live setting that it felt like I was floating in some kind of parallel universe where there's LSD in the water, every song is an exhilarating 32-minute magnum opus and nobody's spirit is trapped with the limiting confines of their own mind or body. It was mind-blowing in the purest sense of the word and quite frankly, it might've been too good of a performance since their studio stuff doesn't hit quite the same now that I've experienced them in their finest form on a stage.
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