The Fillmore in Minneapolis, MN
April 8, 2023
Photos by Brett
Review by Nick
The time has finally arrived! STATIC-X and FEAR FACTORY brought their “Rise of the Machine” Tour to The Fillmore in Minneapolis, MN for a very sold out crowd that was excited to see every band on the bill!
STATIC-X came out with a new look for XERO that complimented the “Rise of the Machine” tour name. XERO’s new mask looks even more incredible in person. You could see guitarist Koichi Fukuda, bassist Tony Campos and drummer Ken Jay smiling and having a blast up there on stage. The energy was infectious from the crowd to the stage for each band for their entire set. You had 5 bands that were all excited to be playing in front of a crowd that was just excited to see them and hear all these songs come to life again.
STATIC-X filled their 19 song set with hit after hit and still leaving crowd favorites out of the set and the crowd wanted more after the last song rang out. STATIC-X coming out of the gate swinging with 4 from Machine to start the show off with “Permanence”, “This is Not”, “Structural Defect” and “Black and White” before even stepping to classic tracks from Wisconsin Death Trip. This tour definitely reminded you how solid Machine is as an album in full. Tony Campos stated from the stage later in the night that since the tour was delayed so many times, it gave them more time to bring a bigger production. This was a production made for arenas but in a club setting. If their goal was to make everything bigger and better than the previous tour, they definitely did that and then some even bringing a big podium for Xero to use on “Permanence” and “I’m With Stupid” that made sure everyone even in the back got a good glimpse of Xero Version 2.0.
Plenty of tracks from Wisconsin Death Trip made it in to the set (you gotta play the track “Wisconsin Death Trip” when you are so close to Wisconsin!) along with a good taste of the rest of their catalog played in rapid succession with not much downtime in between many songs. Newer songs “Terminator Oscillator” and their recently released cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Terrible Lie” fit in perfectly amongst the Static-X classics like “Destroy All”, “Dirthouse” and “Cannibal” from later albums.
I don’t know what song the crowd sang along louder for “Cold”, “I’m With Stupid” or “Push It” which all came during the encore. Usually the crowd is spent by this point, not the case here. The crowd was louder than ever and the smiles on the band’s faces were bigger. The 3 year wait for this tour was definitely well worth it.
FEAR FACTORY came out blazing with new vocalist Milo Silverstro with two epic opening tracks both from Obsolete “Shock” and “Edgecrusher” setting the tone for their 50 min set. Milo filling the big shoes of Burton with ease in most parts as Fear Factory made their way thru the entire catalog playing songs from all over the map some of which might not have been played in a long time. “Distruptor” sounded fantastic along with “Powershifter” and “What Will Become”.
Guitarist Dino Cazares looked like he was having a blast up there with Milo, bassist Tony Campos and drummer Pete Webber. There’s no question that this lineup absolutely crushes these songs as they closed with 3 classics from Demanfacture, the title track, “Zero Signal” and “Replica”. These songs and this 10 song set isn’t for a beginner musician. FEAR FACTORY is back with a vengeance and I can’t wait to see them live again.
DOPE had a very short 6 song, 30 minute set which opened with the newest song in the set “Blood Money” because as Edsel Dope said from the stage “You didn’t come here to hear the new shit, you came hear to hear the old shit”. While there was only one song from the 1999 album Felons and Revolutionaries which was a shame, DOPE did a great job of picking out songs from all their albums to make sure to please any fan of the band. Closing with a super energetic version of their version of “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” that definitely was a crowd pleaser.
Overall, this was a fun show front to back. This was a celebration of these songs from STATIC-X and FEAR FACTORY coming back to life again. Both bands were firing on all cylinders and hopefully this will keep them on tour for years to come to celebrate the music and the legacy that all these bands have created and importantly, the life of Wayne Static.
SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PHOTOS FROM STATIC-X, FEAR FACTORY, DOPE and TWIZTID HERE!
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