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!
