NITA STRAUSS and STARBENDERS harness the wild at Studio B

CONCERT REVIEW :: NITA STRAUSS, STARBENDERS
Studio B @ Skyway Theater in Minneapolis, MN
March 16, 2024
Photos by Brett
Review by Nick

NITA STRAUSS returned to Studio B at Skyway Theater to support her second solo record “The Call of the Void” in a full headlining capacity. NITA was opening for Mammoth WVH just as the record came out and had a very solid set at First Avenue a couple months ago but what could she do when she got to fully shine on her own?

NITA brought with the massive lighting set up she had with Mammoth WVH, as she’s just coming off the second leg of that tour finishing up the these solo dates getting her back to the West Coast. I kinda think they couldn’t put up ALL the lights on stage with having 6 band members on that kinda small Studio B stage but it was still blinding and impressive nonetheless.

NITA and the band seemed to really enjoy having the crowd up close and personal for the full hour set. No barricade and everyone was on their best behavior the entire night. The whole band really seemed to enjoy playing some songs that they didn’t normally get to play in their limited opening set time. There was more new material from Call this time with the first half still being instrumental and the second half with touring vocalist Kasey Karlsen. Kasey comes out swinging absolutely crushing “The Wolf You Feed” doing vocal gymnastics to stay true to Alissa White-Gluz’s version on the album. While no easy feat there, Kasey ran head first in to “The Golden Trail” and delivers the goods on “Through the Noise”.

Nita gives everyone equal time to shine live. While Nita’s shredding, her guitarist and bassist (forgive me, I couldn't find their names on the internet) are running around the stage as much as they can keeping the crowd hyped up. Keyboardist and background vocalist Katt Scarlett whips her hair around constantly while laying down the groove while drummer Josh Villalta is a monster behind the drums! Nita has a really impressive band with her look no further than the intricaices of tracks like "Our Most Desperate Hour" and "Marianas Trench".

I’m still at a loss on how to describe STARBENDERS and I’m good with that. STARBENDERS don’t easily fit in to any catagory or genre. Best I can do is think 70’s and 80’s rock and metal put together in a blender and updated for today’s time. The band really blurs lines with each song, when you think you got it, they throw another curve ball.

“Blood Moon” kicked off their set and I was confused and interested all at the same time – crunchy riffs and infectious grooves with vocalist and guitarist Kimi Shelter belting out these insane screams at the end of the chorus without opening her mouth super big like every other singer. Guitarist Kriss Tojkaji looks like Slash up on stage while bassist Aaron Lecesne gives a nod to Bowie. New drummer Qi Wei looks like she’s having time of her life up on stage with the band. Put all 4 together and you have a band you can’t look away from – they keep you engaged with great stage presence and then add in the electricity of knowing that you’re not quite sure what you’re gonna get next.

Kimi channeled some serious Stevie Nicks vibes with “Seven White Horses” complete with a tambourine. A slower tempo track that stood out from the rest of the set which flowed really well in to “Cherry Wine” showcasing the beauty in Kimi’s vocals before amping it back up to close out the set with “If You Need It.”

I’m glad I bought a record from Kimi as she was packing up the merch table during Nita’s set. I’m very intrigued that this band is very unique to the point where after seeing as many concerts as I have, there’s still a band that keeps me on my toes and keeps me guessing. Check out STARBENDERS live the next time they roll thru town and be entranced.

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PHOTOS OF NITA STRAUSS and STARBENDERS HERE!

MACHINE HEAD, FEAR FACTORY and ORBIT CULTURE Slaughter The Lyric

CONCERT REVIEW: MACHINE HEAD, FEAR FACTORY, ORBIT CULTURE
The Lyric at Skyway Theater
Minneapolis, MN
Jan 30, 2024
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick

MACHINE HEAD brought their SLAUGHTER THE MARTOUR to THE LYRIC at SKYWAY THEATER. It’s been almost 9 years since I last saw MACHINE HEAD at the now defunct Mill City Nights during their Evening With Machine Head run. MACHINE HEAD last played MN in Oct of 2018 on a similar Evening With Run.

That in itself explains the excitement buzzing in the Skyway Theater for the return of MACHINE HEAD to a MN stage and they came out firing on all cylinders with the always crushing “Imperium” complete with a new digital backdrop! You could see the excitement on their faces that the crowd showed up to rage.

“Ten Ton Hammer” was next and the mosh pit didn’t let up. The beauty of shows in the main Skyway Theater and in the new only slightly smaller The Lyric … is that they are old movie theater rooms so the floor slants down giving everyone a great sightline for the stage. It’s gradual so it’s not like you are moshing uphill. Though that would be an interesting pit.

This is the first tour in a long time with openers so Machine Head played a 90 minute set and was still able to get in most of the songs you would want to hear in a MH set. “Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate” got an electrifying response out of the crowd as one of three songs from Of Kingdom and Crown to show up on the set list. Which then moved in to the classic “Aesthetics of Hate” complete with Dimebag Darrell love. No Machine Head show would be complete without the crowd sing alongs of “Davidian” and a perfect Machine Head closer with “Halo.”

Robb has always been a strong vocalist and this might be the best he’s sounded live. The band is up there having a blast playing and the crowd was reciprocating the feelings back. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another 5 ½ years for Machine Head to come back around and hopefully with another killer lineup like we had tonight.

FEAR FACTORY came out of the gates with huge smiles on their faces giving a ferocious 40 min set of nothing but the best FEAR FACTORY has to offer. Swinging right out the gate with two legendary cuts “Shock” and “Edgecrusher” from the Obsolete album. The band Dino has put together is extremely tight and in fighting form.

Milo’s got it. Milo honors Burton’s legacy keeping the songs true to form on “Powershifter”, “Disruptor” and “Linchpin”. I’m beyond excited to see Milo does with new FF material, leaving Milo to make his mark on the FF sound. Milo looked way more confident as a vocalist than when Fear Factory was at The Fillmore with Static-X last year. That’s not to say Milo was even one ounce of bad last year. Milo just had that much more of a swagger to him tonight.

As Brett said after photographing the first 3 songs of Fear Factory’s set .. “There is no one that looks happier playing on stage than Dino!” The whole band just absolutely slayed that set ending with a loud crowd reaction for “Demanufacture” and “Replica”. I wish they would have had time to do an encore because the crowd was ready for one!

ORBIT CULTURE returned for their third swing thru Minneapolis and becoming a more powerful live force than ever before. Just the addition of CO2 shooting up during openers “Saw” and “Alienated” made a huge difference in their 30 min set. ORBIT CULTURE returning with their strongest material to date with their latest album Descent and they showed off the album with 4 out of the 7 songs in the set. Which was a nice, little change for fans that have seen all three of their MN sets so far.

Vocalist and guitarist Niklas Karlsson made full use of the entire stage by singing in three different spots during the set - center, stage left and stage right giving everyone an opportunity to see the vocalist up close! The crowd was here for it as it’s safe to say ORBIT CULTURE isn’t a baby band anymore. Just like Milo with Fear Factory, you could see a noticeable confidence in all four of the members of Orbit Culture’s stage presence. They were here to dominate the stage and definitely did that with time left on the clock.

“Descent,” “From the Inside” and “Vultures of North” went over huge with the crowd as did the newest track in the set “While We Serve” from December’s The Forgotten EP. Drummer Markus Bladh punished the drums as he was pretty close to the front of the stage. It’s also pretty amazing that guitarist Richard Hansson and bassist Fredrik Lennartsson can headbang as hard as they do and still crush their parts.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, if you aren’t in to Orbit Culture yet .. what are you waiting for? This was their best set yet and the band is only getting stronger. I would love to see what Orbit Culture can do with a longer set and hopefully we will see that sooner than later.

If this tour was any indication of how 2024 is going to be for live tours, buckle up because Machine Head, Fear Factory and Orbit Culture have set the bar extremely high.

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PHOTOS OF MACHINE HEAD HERE!

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PHOTO OF FEAR FACTORY AND ORBIT CULTURE HERE!

CONCERT REVIEW :: AVATAR comes back bigger and better than ever

CONCERT REVIEW :: AVATAR, VEIL OF MAYA, ORBIT CULTURE
Skyway Theater – Minneapolis, MN
May 12, 2023
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick

The time has come… it was time for AVATAR to grace us with another headlining performance, the first time in MN since the release of this year’s Dance Devil Dance record. Waiting to get in, I saw lots of Hawaiian style Avatar shirts and people were excited for the Swedish band’s return.

Glory to the King! The crowd eagerly awaited AVATAR’s arrival chanting “Av-A-Tar” and the band did not disappoint when they came out sparks flying with “Dance Devil Dance” the title track of the new record. The band didn’t pause as they doubled down with “The Eagle Has Landed” and “Valley of Disease” before giving the crowd a chance to breathe. Vocalist Johannes Eckerstrom addressing the crowd and encouraging the pit to get primal for “Chimp Mosh Pit” which perfectly led in to “Scream Until You Wake”.

Like a magic show or circus performance, AVATAR has perfected being masters of distraction to keep the crowd guessing what’s going to happen next. Guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Ohrstrom had a little guitar duel before “Bloody Angel” and drummer John Alfredsson led bassist Henrik Sandelin thru a tempo change to “Puppet Show” before Johannes appeared in the balcony to make a balloon animal before the trombone solo.

Most bands give the drummer a solo to show off his chops while the rest of the band takes a breath. Not Avatar and not John. Dance break!

“Do You Feel in Control” was a nice dip in to the new album amongst older tracks before “Black Waltz”. “Colossus” and “Let It Burn” got the pits churning but the crowd was never louder than the King appeared for “A Statue of the King.”

By this time, Avatar is at an 1 hour 40ish minutes when they throw down with a heavy encore of favorites the recent single “The Dirt I’m Buried In” into “Smells Like a Freakshow” and ending with an epic “Hail the Apocalypse”. AVATAR gets better and better each time they come thru. AVATAR was showing off just what they are capable of with a 2 hour frenzy to make sure everyone went home fulfilled with the insanity that they just watched on stage. Who’s ready for an encore of the entire set? I am!

Chicago’s VEIL OF MAYA were in the middle slot. No stranger to Minneapolis or the Skyway Theater, the band came out to a loud response as they dived right in with “Viscera”. Playing a few tracks from False Idol and Matriarch before celebrating the release of their brand new record (M)other that was released earlier in the day. The very technical band is fun to watch as guitarist Marc Okubo, bassist Danny Hauser and drummer Sam Applebaum are each equally as talented as the other. The middle of the set is where the real standouts of the set came in the brand new “Red Fur” sounded just as much in place with the set as the previous track “Lisbeth”. “Godhead” and “Synthwave Vegan” from the new album went over very well. Vocalist Lukas Magyar’s vocals perfectly soared above the technicality on “Outrun” and the band closed out the set with a victorious version of “Mikasa”.

Sweden’s ORBIT CULTURE opened the show with a furious 30 minute set that was greatly received by the crowd. The crowd was loud from the very beginning of the set with “Open Eye” and chanting along “Get Out!” during “Strangler”. We were treated to a couple new songs in the set list than they played on the In Flames tour last fall including a crushing new track “Alienated” that will be on their new album Descent that will finally be released this summer. ORBIT CULTURE has gotten even stronger live than the previous fall and the crowd size definitely grew when the band went to the merch booth afterwords to sign and take pictures. Awesome to watch this band grow and the crowd responding in size. Maybe we’ll see them get longer than a 30 minute set next time they come thru!

SEE MORE OF BRETT's AVATAR PHOTOS HERE!

The Lyric meets GWAR! Did the venue survive?

PHOTO GALLERY :: GWAR, NEKROGOBLIKON and CROBOT
The Lyric at Skyway Theater in Minneapolis, MN
Oct 25, 2022
Photos by Brett Zisler

GWAR returned to Minneapolis to destroy the Skyway Theater's newest venue The Lyric. Mayhem ensued and no one left without a little bit of GWAR goodness.

NEKROGOBLIKON proved to be the perfect act to play right before GWAR.

CROBOT started off the party with tracks from their awesome new album "Feel This"!

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PICTURES FROM GWAR, NEKROGOBLIKON and CROBOT HERE!

BARONESS brings a magical evening to a very intimate show in Minneapolis

Concert Review
BARONESS
BARFLY @ Skyway Theater in Minneapolis
11/12/21
Review by Nick. Pictures by Brett.

Imagine one of your favorite bands playing a small club. Imagine finding out that the club is smaller than you think. It’s like your favorite band playing a basement show again, but with better sound.

These are the shows that you only hear about after words and that will probably never happen again. Luckily for Minneapolis, it happened twice on back to back nights.

BARONESS played the surprisingly small Bar Fly at the Skyway Theater in Minneapolis after headlining the main room in 2019. While I expected a more intimate show, it was WAY more intimate than I expected with almost 360 degrees view of the band. I took advantage of that watching the show from different spots throughout the night.

This being a “by request” set where ticket holders picked out a good chunk of the set. Then the band filled out the set playing some different songs that they normally don’t get to play. This made for a very special show … and even more special for those that went both nights.

Both nights started off with “Ogeechee Hymnal” as a nice welcome back for the band and the fans before going in different directions each night. Friday night’s show went straight in to a victorious “Take My Bones Away” that was a huge crowd sing along right off the bat. Saturday night, that song ended the main set making it a nice bookend of the two shows.

The most impressive thing that struck me while watching the set was how much the band thought about each song where it went in the set and what interlude would complement the next song. I wanted a live record before from Baroness, now I really want a live record from Baroness. This was a nice mix of favorites and songs you may have forgot about from the band’s epic catalog.

While you always want to hear “Take My Bones Away”, “March to the Sea”, “A Horse Called Golgatha”, “Shock Me” and “Isak”, the real gems in the set were the ones rarely played.

“Tourniquet” from Gold and Grey was just as amazing as on the record. The acoustic part in the middle of the show of “Cocainuim” and “Foolsong” was a beautiful quiet moment full of harmonies that needs to come out on a 7 inch vinyl. “Desperation Burns” was a nice way to come roaring back after the two acoustic songs.

The precision of the band playing off each other was at an all time high with this set. All 4 members locked in together all in the name of groove. There’s not many bands that could pull off a set of this magnitude as flawless as Baroness does. As was evident in the nice build up at the end of the main set going from “Seasons” into “The Sweetest Curse” into “The Birthing” before a rowdy “Isak” closed the main set.

The encore of “Wanderlust” is a song John said that they always play in Minneapolis and was a great way to end the show.

This show was the band being out on tour because they wanted to be out on tour not because they had to. You could clearly see on their faces that they were enjoying every moment of being on that stage creating that night for not only the fans but for themselves too. No one member of the band outshined the other, they all shined brightly together.

Being able to not only see a show like that in a small venue but also to help make the set list and get a show poster as you left was all well worth the price of admission. If you are able to get out to any of the remaining shows on the tour, definitely do so or you’ll be kicking yourself after words.

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PICTURES FROM BARONESS AT THE BARFLY HERE!