Neurosis, Mastodon et. al. rock Scion fest.
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
Mastodon brought the Scion Rock Fest to a crashing finale on Saturday night. Scott Kelley from Neurosis made a cameo at the end of their set tearing through “Aqua Dementia” from Leviathan, “Crack the Skye” from their forthcoming full-length and “Crystal Skull” from Blood Mountain; which was preceded by an announcement from guitarist Brent Hinds that the cops were there to shut everything down.
Indeed they played slightly beyond 11 o’clock, but the show ended without incident.
In Purgatory inside the club, Zoroaster brought their set to a close with a noisy cluster of feedback and chaos after technical difficulties inspired bass player /vocalist Brent Anderson to kick over his entire bass rig. At some point during the melee a drum cymbal stand was propelled upward like a rocket and stabbed drummer Dan Scanlan in the roof of his mouth (which was pretty hardcore). Afterward he looked dazed, but appeared to be no worse for the wear as he smoked cigarettes and recalled the story. At a metal festival of such caliber there’s bound to be some carnage.
Speaking of carnage, Norwegian black metal band 1349 wrapped up their set across the hall in Hell, shortly after the Zoroaster incident. Rumor had it that they had adorned their stage with severed pig heads mounted on spikes. If they were there the crowd had devoured them before I made my way into the room. At the end, vocalist Ravn lurched at the crowd in full corpse paint and blood stained hands, slapping high fives and grunting a ghastly war cry.
This was the real deal on all fronts. After stellar performances from Neurosis, Wolves in the Throne Room, Boris, Kylesa, Torche and so many others there was a feeling of wasted annihilation in the air, as though Cloverfield had paid a visit to the Masquerade Music Park and left a massive footprint in the dark red mud that stained so many shoes and pant legs of concert goers who filed out with ringing ears and a touch of whiplash.
(Photo by Chad Radford)
