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!
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