TILL LINDEMANN INVADES MINNESOTA

CONCERT REVIEW :: TILL LINDEMANN
Myth - Maplewood, MN
October 5, 2024
Photos and Review by Brett Zisler

If there is one thing to know before heading into a show that features TILL LINDEMANN, its to expect the unexpected and be prepared to be visually stimulated. That’s exactly what the crowd in Maplewood, Minnesota got on a Saturday night when Til’s tour rolled its way into town.

The line stretched around the Myth and down a couple of blocks with the crowds’ anticipation while wearing face paint clad with Rammstein shirts. There is something about Till Lindemann and the aura he brings to a show. This crowd showed up in droves early to claim their spots for a show they knew they would never forget. After openers Aesthetic Perfection and Twin Temple got the crowd perfectly warmed up, the moment everyone was there for was finally here.

As soon as those house lights went down, the frenzy in the crowd began. With the band silhouettes appearing in front of the screen behind them, everyone knew it was on from there. Till, painted all red, made his way towards the front of the stage dawned in a general’s hat and furlike coat as the band took their spots. The roar of the crowd was deafening as Til uttered his first words to “Zunge.” This proved to be the perfect lead into his set as everyone was ready to finally rock out. Watching Till and his intense and over the top band perform their next songs “Schweiss” and “Fat” was truly a sight to behold. The energy given out by the band along with the pounding riffs and drums is a combination unlike anything else. With drummer, Joe Letz, draped in attire that is not suitable for work and keyboardist, Constance Antionette’s stage presence, there is always something and someone to watch during the performance. Adding Danny Loehner on bass and guitarists Emily Ruvidich & Jes Paige only adds more raw energy and power to the show.

Till worked the crowd perfectly in the way only he can. Between the graphic videos/images on the screens behind him during songs like “Golden Shower” or bringing red cakes out to throw in the crowds faces. The fans loved every minute of it. How many shows have you been to where the band shoots real fish with a gun into the audience and people fight over it so they can take it home? Probably not many. Till along with Constance Antionette became part of the crowd as the made their way out onto the main floor during “Platz Eins.” Seeing him up close for so many fans was definitely a highlight for most.

As the night came to a close and Till finished out his set with “Ich Hasse Kinder,” it was clear that he had accomplished the goal for the evening. Deliver a show that the fans will NEVER forget. The count of how many times “holy sh*t!” by random people in the crowd during the duration of the show was too much to count. Till once again proved, you can watch bands performances on the internet & youtube, but nothing will ever compare to his live performances.

SEE MORE of BRETT's photos of TILL LINDEMANN HERE!

CLUTCH are kings of the album playthrough at the Myth!

CONCERT REVIEW :: CLUTCH
9/29/24
Myth, Maplewood, MN
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick

CLUTCH returned in glorious form to the Myth in Maplewood, MN to celebrate 20 years of their stellar record “Blast Tyrant” on the Two Headed Monster co-headline tour with Rival Sons and opener Black Stone Cherry. This long fan favorite record was a perfect choice to celebrate by playing in full front to back just like on the album.

As a long time fan of CLUTCH getting to see “Blast Tyrant” played in it’s entirety was a treat in itself and well worth the price of the ticket right there. The album comes out swinging with a nice little intro jam of “Mercury” that sees guitarist Tim Sult, bassist Dan Maines and drummer Jean-Paul Gaster getting a little warm up before slamming in for the second half of the track with vocalist extraodinare Neil Fallon joining in on the fun. The band driving straight into “Profits of Doom”, Clutch brings the funk and groove to the proceedings and the crowd ate it up. The always enjoyable “The Mob Goes Wild” comes along with plenty of sing alongs from the crowd. I always look forward to hearing “Cypress Grove” live and tonight’s version did not disappoint in the slightest.

The crowd tonight was well versed in Blast Tyrant and enjoyed taking the ride through the full album with songs that maybe haven’t been in CLUTCH set lists for a little bit like “Worm Drink,” “Army of Bono”, “Spleen Merchant” and “Ghost”. “Subtle Hustle” was another standout track from the evening continuing on the sets infectous grooves. “Ghost” was a nice change of pace during the set and one that I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Clutch play previous to tonight. Which brings in the point, is there anything in the Clutch catalog that Clutch can’t pull off live?! Clutch really pulled an ace out of their sleeve playing this track with ease. There had to be practice involved but I don’t believe there’s a song in the catalog that they couldn’t crank out in a flash if the moment of inspiration strikes.

Now the “bonus tracks” for the evening, Clutch brought out some deep cuts from earlier albums to much delight from the crowd. Beginning with “Binge and Purge” and going in to “El Jefe Speaks”, the crowd was here for it and were entranced as Neil Fallon worked the crowd making sure everyone in the crowd got a moment of the vocalist’s attention. In the area where I was standing, concert goers got excited when they launched in to “The Soapmakers” from The Elephant Riders (an album that definitely needs to be reissued or re-recorded and released) which sounded stellar tonight. “A Shogun Named Marcus” showed up for a 3 minutes of pure rock fury before ending the set with a song everyone could agree on, the legendary “Spacegrass”.

CLUTCH continues to be one of the best live rock and roll bands touring today with amazing chemistry that only happens when these guys pick up their instruments together in a room. An amazing sense of musicianship that can not be duplicated, making instant grooves that take you along on a journey to the ends of the Earth and back on vinyl from side A to side B just like they do from opener to closer live. Do yourself a favor and catch CLUTCH when they come thru town next and you’ll be racing for the merch line at the end of the set too.

SEE MORE of BRETT's PHOTOS OF CLUTCH and RIVAL SONS HERE!

STATIC-X and SEVENDUST celebrate the end of their tour in Minnesota!

CONCERT REVIEW :: STATIC-X, SEVENDUST, DOPE
Myth in Maplewood, MN
May 18, 2024
Photos by Brett
Review by Nick

The long awaited Machine Killer Tour finally arrived at their last stop at the Myth in Maplewood for a packed house awaiting this lineup. Both STATIC-X and SEVENDUST hadn’t been thru since the release of their respective new records. Tonight was going to be a celebration in more ways than one.

STATIC-X’s set is always a celebration of the life of Wayne Static and the music the core band made together on the Wisconsin Death Trip and Machine records. Being so close to Wisconsin, those songs always get a big reaction especially “Wisconsin Death Trip.”

There’s so many songs especially on Wisconsin Death Trip that are pretty iconic 25 years since the release of the album and a good chunk of the album was well represented during the set. STATIC-X came out bringing two from the Project Regeneration vol 1 album “Hollow” and “Terminator Oscillator” complete with bubbles floating thru the air to go with their pretty spectacular dialed in light show.

Then came a heaping helping of WDT, “Love Dump” was a big sing along as well as “Wisconsin Death Trip” and “Bled for Days”. “Z0mbie” was a super fun live track from the new Project Regeneration vol 2 record that definitely fit in very well amongst the classics. Which was followed up with a pummeling “Get to the Gone”.

Tony Campos and Koichi Fukuda were running all over the stage and enjoying the crowd interaction that was on display for the last night of the tour. Ken Jay’s drums sounded even better at this show versus last year’s show at The Fillmore as it was more in your face instead of being more buried in the mix. Xero does a fantastic job of keeping Wayne’s legacy alive and well doing absolute justice to all the songs in the set.

You can not argue with the show closers “Cold,” “I’m With Stupid” and “Push It”. Those 3 are absolute legends in the catalog and the crowd goes insane every time. “Push It” got even more crazy as Static-X’s crew came out with a wide variety of beach floaties to throw in to the crowd and celebrate 3 legs of this spectacular pairing.

SEVENDUST always brings the fun and energy live. They are one of the most underrated rock bands out there consistently putting out great music and putting on fantastic live shows. A live SEVENDUST show is always a celebration. You can not go to a SEVENDUST show and not have a good time … tonight was no different.

SEVENDUST was able to use the digital backdrop that STATIC-X brings out on tour and create some great visuals to go along with the songs in the set. Opening up with a forest scene for “I Might Let The Devil Win” using half the track as an intro piece before the band walked out and slammed right in for the last couple minutes of the track before rolling in to “Truth Killer”. The surprises didn’t stop there with 4 deep cuts for the long time fans “Alpha”, “Till Death”, “Pieces” and “Hero” all made appearances in the set which I gotta get guess some of those haven’t been played live for quite a while.

Those 5 guys up on the stage always look like they are having the time of their lives up there, which not only translates to the crowd but also makes for a much more fun show. Lajon being one of the best front person in the hard rock and metal scene never disappoints. Once again, the sound was fantastic for SEVENDUST’s set with Morgan Rose’s drums and vocals being more in the forefront of the mix tonight than 2022’s Skyway Theater set on the Animosity 21st tour. Whoever was doing sound for both STATIC-X and SEVENDUST, tip of the hat to you for the crushing mix!

The rest of the 7 songs played during their set which seemed way too short were all crowd favorites. Lajon even spotted Spider-Man and got him to lead the circle pit. “Splinter” was definitely a highlight along with a fantastic version of the latest single “Everything”. It’s always cathartic to scream along with “Face to Face” live to end the set. All the stress of the outside world gets to go away for the 4 minutes of that legendary show closer.

SEVENDUST just announced what I hope is the first leg of the Seasons 21st Anniversary Tour that unfortunately doesn’t come to MN .. here’s to hoping for a date of the 2nd leg of the tour.

DOPE is always a blast to see live on tour. They’re just a fun show. They are well aware of what they need to do on tour by getting the crowd warmed up and they do it well. With Felons and Revolutionaries also being 25 years old this year, I would’ve loved to hear some more from the record and maybe we will on future tours. Edsel has a very tight band surrounding him that nails the jam packed 30 minute set to get as much from every Dope record as possible in there and it still makes me laugh when Edsel talks about how a bad decision of a cover song still gets played at every show from then to 25 years later. It’s a really fun way to end a set and let’s be honest there’s worse songs a band could cover.

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PHOTOS of STATIC-X, SEVENDUST and DOPE HERE!

MESHUGGAH lights the shortening fuse at the Myth

CONCERT REVIEW :: MESHUGGAH, CONVERGE, TORCHE
Myth in Maplewood, MN
Sept 30, 2022
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick

In what felt like forever to wait for a show when in actuality it was probably less than 9 months, MESHUGGAH, CONVERGE and TORCHE finally came to the Myth in Maplewood! I had been looking forward to this lineup since it was announced. MESHUGGAH finally coming back to the area with an impressive new album in tow. CONVERGE hasn’t been here in what seems like forever and this was the final tour for TORCHE.

One thing that can always be said about MESHUGGAH is their light show is just as intense as the music itself. MESHUGGAH came out with all the members standing towards light boxes with the Immutible guy on each box. “Broken Cog” started the set with a blinding light show perfectly timed to the slow, brooding opening of not only the album but now also the tour. Displaying a different kind of intensity to start the show versus the in your face heaviness that CONVERGE and TORCHE offered to kick off the show. The band then commanded the front of the stage for the rest of the night with the beginning of “Light the Shortening Fuse” whipping the pit in to a nice frenzy which continued for the stand out “Rational Gaze” one of only two tracks from Nothing to show up in tonight’s set (and this tour’s set lists so far).

It’s hard not to stand there in awe of the intricate intensity of musical perfection that is being displayed when you watch MESHUGGAH live. It’s a master class in musicianship. I literally got lost trying to watch guitarists Fredrik Theordendal and Marten Hagstrom play their instruments. I was bummed because I couldn’t see Tomas Haake real well as I could just stand and watch him play the set but with the stage being dark and then super bright, it would’ve been hard to see Tomas either way.

Vocalist Jens Kidman still sounds as great and intense as he does on Choasphere (surprising that no track from that album made tonight’s cut) or Destroy Erase Improve. “Ligature Marks” sounded perfectly placed right in between “The Hurt That Finds You First” and “Born in Dissonance”. While there was no “Bleed”, “Stengah”, “Do Not Look Down” or even “I Am That Thirst” from Immutible, when you have a catalog as deep and celebrated as Meshuggah it’s hard to get everything everyone would want to hear in a 75 minute set … or even in a 2 hour set.

MESHUGGAH’s set closed with a demolishing “Future Breed Machine” that sent everyone in attendance off extremely happy with the set that just unfolded in front of them. Now let’s just hope it’s not another 6 years before MESHUGGAH returns to level another stage in Minnesota.

This was my first time finally seeing CONVERGE and while that’s a little embarrassing to admit, I can’t tell you the last time they actually played Minnesota. I got exactly what I hoped for with CONVERGE’s set. Feedback drenched relentlessly aggressive 50 minute set that did not slow down once started. The set was heavy on tracks from the fantastic “All We Love We Leave Behind” and “Axe to Fall” as well as dished out the best of “The Dusk In Us” but surprisingly only one song from the landmark “Jane Doe”.

Vocalist Jacob Bannon paced the stage with extreme intensity. Kurt Ballou masterfully held down stage left with his massive guitar tone. Nate Newton held his ground on stage right dominating the low end. Anytime you get to watch Ben Koller pound the drums in to oblivion is well worth the price of admission. The intensity alone of “I Can Tell You About Pain” was inspiring and led Jacob to joke that Ben doesn’t like playing “Tresspasses” because it makes his feet tired but the brutality was delivered flawlessly. That being said, I was extremely happy with what the band did play as it was a treat to hear all these songs live. CONVERGE made my wannabe hardcore kid heart happy.

TORCHE opened the show with a fast paced, sludge filled 40 minute set. While I completely understand that sentence doesn’t make sense, when you see TORCHE live you’ll get it. As this was my first time seeing TORCHE live, it would also be my last as the band announced this would be their final tour so it just made seeing this touring lineup that much more special. The 14 song set took a little from each album in the band’s catalog with “From Here” being a fantastic opener and quite possibly a perfect introduction for most of the crowd to TORCHE.

This was the first show in a wihle that you could tell the volume was cranked up just as loud for the opener as it was for the headliner. TORCHE was LOUD. That’s exactly the way they should be. Vocalist and guitarist Steve Brooks sounded fantastic behind the mic trading off riffs with guitarist Jonathan Nunez. It would be hard to find a drummer that was more in the groove than Rick Smith is, who would periodically kick his left leg out to punctuate the intensity in his drumming. Filling out the wall of sound was bassist Eric Hernandez with a dominating bass tone.

That could be said about this entire tour lineup. Every band had a dominating wall of sound each in their own way that stood out from each other. TORCHE bringing the rock, CONVERGE throwing down and MESHUGGAH bending minds. This had to have been a pretty close to sold out show that I’m glad I took the time to appreciate from start to finish. We’ll probably never see these 3 bands together on stage again and it was much more of a perfect lineup than one could imagine.

SEE MORE OF BRETT's PHOTOS FROM MESHUGGAH, CONVERGE and TORCHE HERE!

STATIC-X delivers in Minnesota

REVIEW :: STATIC-X, MUSHROOMHEAD, DOPE, WEDNESDAY 13 and RAVEN BLACK
Myth in Maplewood, MN
December 4, 2019
Photos and Review by Brett Zisler

The Minnesota region found itself as one of the few lucky markets in 2019 to have the Static-X “Wisconsin Death Trip” 20th Anniversary tour and Wayne Static Memorial pass through this area in less than 6 months. As one person that was fortunate enough to be at both, I must say, it’s an experience like none other. Static-X dominated the tour circuit in the early 2000’s, finding themselves on nearly every tour they could get their hands on. I can honestly say, few bands carry the clout and fanbase from that era like Static-X does. Their show at Myth proved it once again.

The whole tour is centered around the tribute to Wayne Static and the 20th anniversary of their major label debut, “Wisconsin Death Trip.” An album that carved their path onto major tours such as Ozzfest and Pantera’s last major arena campaign. While it still hurts that the legendary and polarizing front man, Wayne Static, is no longer with us, there is no doubt the fans feel the impact he made when the show starts. Static-X starts their set perfectly with their digital screens projecting early images of the band as “December” starts to echo through the speakers. Pictures of Wayne drew loud roars from the crowd as the bandmembers started to appear one by one onstage. With the intro to their hit “Bled for Days” starting, it was clear the crowd it was go time. Tony Campos, Ken Jay and Koichi Fukuda took their spots as the now tribute/fill in on vocals, xer0, patiently waited for his turn in the light. Almost instantly it felt like the old days of seeing Static-X back at the Quest Club (RIP) and multiple other venues around the area. Having the luxury of seeing Static-X off their first album in small club settings to seeing them make it big to arenas and other major tours, I must admit, I was skeptical the first time I saw. That was until they started playing. They overdeliver and do everything right during this live show.

As I and other photographers noted, it was great to hear how many people were saying, “I’ve been dying to see them for over 10 years” or “I never got to see them.” It’s a way to fill the void for fans. And with the success of the show and tour, as the plowed their way through all of the hits, “I’m with stupid, “Love Dump,” Fix,” and “Pushit,” it's clear that this band still has so much life left playing to their one of the many sold out dates on the tour.

Static-X brought along an incredible supporting cast to help open. To help fill in for Devildriver was the fan favorite, Mushroomhead. If you haven’t seen them before, it’s a must to cross off your live show list. They bring so much visually to the table that even if you aren’t familiar with their entire catalog of music, you still walk away satisfied. Between the dual vocals, over the top stage attire and their additional percussion with water splashing the audience at times, it’s something to not miss the next time they make their way through the area.

Also on the bill was the band Dope. No strangers to the early 2000’s “nu metal” genre, Dope does a great job with their current live show distinguishing themselves from others proving there are still alive and well. Lead by long time front man, Edsel Dope, they played crowd favorites “Debonaire” “Die MF Die” and what was intro'd by Edsel himself as “the dumbest fu*king song” their cover of “You Spin me Round.”

Early support on the bill came from acts Wednesday 13 and Raven Black. Wednesday 13 definitely brings the element of enhanced stage props to the table. Whether it was performing with an almost prosthetic “voodoo” head on while doused in paint to reflect in black lights or completely dawned in a black cloak with mask and pitchfork, Wednesday 13 knows how to add to their live performance.

Raven Black was a very pleasant surprise. I had only heard of the band but had not had the pleasure to see them live, and now that I have, I must say, they made a fan out of me. The quartet comes out dressed in various paint and costumes that need to be seen and not described. I think the best way to describe their sound is almost “evil carnival” style of rock/metal. Raven’s voice fits perfectly with the music as she walks with various props to add to the live show. Needless to say, I feel I am not the only one that will check out their next show when they are on town after this last performance.

CHECK OUT MORE OF BRETT's PHOTOS from STATIC-X and MUSHROOMHEAD HERE!

CHECK OUT MORE OF BRETT's PHOTOS from DOPE, WEDNESDAY 13 and RAVEN BLACK HERE!