There were two openers, Decapitated and Baroness. I'm not gonna go too much into them, but Decapitated were alright, and Baroness bored me a bit, but it was obvious everyone was there for the bloodthirsty monster known as Meshuggah.
Meshuggah's set was nothing short of angry, technical, and epic. Vocalist Jens Kidman's voice never once gave out as he screamed throughout the entire set like his life depended on it, and that's not to overshadow the rest of the band, who did perfectly bringing their parts of the music to a live environment.But of course, everyone loves Jens' stage presence. While most metal vocalists tend to jump around stage, headbang, and all of that jazz, Jens is known for his unique stage presence. Jens walked around stage looking like a tough guy that could mess you up in an alley, locking eye contact with audience members in stare-downs, glaring at other audience members, and something about him seemed oddly non-human, as if the music possessed him to become some super-natural being, with his absolutely brutal screams, and how he'd roll his eyes to the back of his head while screaming sometimes.
Jens and crew are no strangers to the concert scene, and have perfected the ultimate 'epic' performance, as Jens' body moves with the music, moving his body with every riff. He also knew when the lights would cut off, so whenever it'd come time for it, he'd slam his hands down and the whole room would go pitch black. Jens seemed like he had control and wanted to flaunt it.
During one of my personal favorite Meshuggah songs, 'New Millenium Cyanide Christ', in which he takes the role of a man who thinks he's Jesus, he got to scream "DISCIPLES, COME JOIN WITH ME!" into the crowd, and the whole crowd screamed right back at him, then a bit after, shrieking into the crowd "LIES!" as if he was possessed. Of course it's an act, but he pulls it off surprisingly well.
And one of the best parts was that they got to play fan-favorite 'Bleed'. Everyone who's heard this song knows that it's brutal beyond words, and it's safe to assume it's a blast to hear live, and it certainly is. It has some great lyrics to it, and the crowd really got into it, moshing and screaming the words right back at Jens, I know I was.
"'Heed', it says, 'heed my will.''Bleed', it says, 'bleed you will.'"
The show was perfect, and actually got me even more into Meshuggah's music. Obviously they aren't for everyone, but the show really opened up my eyes (and ears) to the destructive beauty of their music. If you even mildly like the band, go see them, but prepared to get thrown around by their rabid fans.
