Scion Rock Fest. What a weekend. I arrived in Atlanta (drove the 10 hours there by myself – pure happiness – during which I listened to entire discographies of artists on my ipod) on Friday and got up super early on Saturday to go stand in line. Fucking four hours later, my friends and I were inside the gates. It had been reported that 60,000 metal fans were trying to go to this free show, but the Masquerade can hold about 6,000 so I didn’t want to be in the majority of the disappointed. It was all worth it.
The Masquerade was much larger than I had anticipated, an old mill-turned-venue with three performance areas lovingly named Heaven, Purgatory, Hell… and the Outside Stage. Ha. Kylesa was the first band to play on the main stage (outside) where I stood. I still felt similarly about them as I did when I first heard their latest recording… meh… but that’s mostly because I’m just not into the yelling vocal dude. Their music is tight, they have TWO drummers for god’s sakes, who rocked it out, and the chick on vox was great.
I moved into Purgatory to see Salome play, one of Northern Virginia’s local doom bands (so, they’re local to me, but not local to all the folks in Atlanta.) It was the second blond chick on vocals in a row, but they rocked it out. It was fun to hear that my friends in Rwake, out of Little Rock, had heard of them – it’s always good to see bands rising from their roots onto greater places and wider platforms.
Boris I had only heard good things about but had never heard them play or seen them live. I think they ended up having the best performance of the day, partially due to the over-the-top antics of their drummer who wields a mighty mallet against a gong – I mean, who doesn’t like a gong? They put on a fantastic show (even the lights were good, and they played in the afternoon in the outside tent, if that says anything…) and I would highly suggest hitting one of their shows when they come around.
Pig Destroyer never disappoints me. They had the one pit of the day of which I maneuvered the outskirts and managed to avoid getting trampled or pushed which I always claim as a great success. Usually I just stay way back and watch bands, but I had a couple drinks in me by that point and was bold enough to act on my desire to be up close to watch them play. Only the set was short.
Next was Skeletonwitch, out of my college town, Athens, Ohio. They were the only band I got to see play a full set in Heaven, and the crowd packed in to watch them play. Their chops are finely honed, having toured on this past album for a while now, their next tour will be with Goatwhore. Sweet.
Rwake are my people. I’ve been a big fan of theirs for years and always head out to see them play. Their doomy, soul-wrenching grooves suck you right in every single time. They played in Hell and I was smashed into people who all smashed into the smallest room at the Masquerade and I could only see the top of CT’s head, but it was worth it.
Neurosis, the most anticipated band of the day I’d say, took the main stage around 8p.m. and their set was magnificent. If only they had played earlier in the day. By the time they were into their 4th song I was ready for a nap. No offense. I’d just been standing for 11 and a half hours by that point, the sun had gone down which dropped the temperature a great bit, I was sober, hungry and I was ready for Mastodon.
While Neurosis’s set sounded and looked fantastic, by the time Mastodon took the stage either the engineer’s ears were tired, the speakers were dead or MY ears were ready to go to bed, but the whole sound was pushed to the brink, decibel-wise, with no control. It was straight up blown out. Not Mastodon’s fault. They fucking brought it, pulling from all their albums with no bullshit in between, all their songs sped up like I’ve never heard, with absolute precision in their performance – the mastery they have over their songs is highly satisfying. Although I had to avoid a rather large, swaying drunk dude during the middle of their set, my eyes were otherwise transfixed to the stage. They broke my heart when they played “This Mortal Soil,” which is one of my favourite Mastodon tracks of all time. Another highlight – Scott Kelly of Neurosis (who loans his vocals to a track on each of Mastodon’s albums) joined them on stage for each song he’s ever done with them, a total treat. Mastodon’s brand new album, Crack the Skye, dropped Tuesday, and I can’t wait to see them rock another headlining tour.
Really, the biggest disappointments of the day were when two bands I wanted to see were playing at the same time on different stages. I also didn’t really understand the reasoning for the lineups on the particular stages, I found some of the choices bizarre. I would have liked to see 1349 and Converge, but felt justified choosing other bands to watch since I have seen them before. A little gossip – Nachmystium had been booked to play but someone had called Scion complaining that Nachmystium were a Nazi band and thus planned to protest and cause a ruckus if they played, so they were dropped from the bill. Ridiculous. Good news though, apparently, the higher ups with the cash considered Scion Rock Fest a success – they’re already planning the next one. I’m planning to be there.