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machinehead catharsistour2018Den Atelier, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
25th April 2018
Machine Head – “Catharsis World Tour” 2018

After two years, trash-giants MACHINE HEAD are back at the Den Atelier with yet another “An Evening with Machine Head” tour, this time in support of the new album ‘Catharsis’. Since the tour is “An Evening With” style, there are no openers. So three hours fully packed with head-banging, mosh pits, rage, heavy guitar riffs and a lot of great songs to sing along with and of course the blood, the sweat, the beers! Luxembourg was pleased!

MACHINE HEAD is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist/ guitarist Robb Flynn and bassist Adam Duce. The band’s aggressive musicianship made them one of the pioneering bands in the new wave of American heavy metal. Machine Head’s current line-up comprises Flynn, long-time drummer Dave McClain, guitarist Phil Demmel and bassist Jared MacEachern. MACHINE HEAD’s first four albums earned the band a growing fan base in Europe, however the band would not have success in the United States until later albums. They are the representatives of their genre who are constantly looking ahead. Again and again they redefine themselves and their sound, play with set pieces of speed, dark and groove metal - but in the end they are always themselves. The formation around the gifted front shouter and guitarist Robert Flynn is considered a blueprint for a modern, driven version of Metal and can look back on remarkable successes despite their lack of musical compromise. The quartet from Oakland has sold over three million copies of their nine albums.

Music & Performance
With a 20+ song set spanning nearly three hours, MACHINE HEAD gives you a little bit of everything of the band’s nine albums. They have also changed the setlist and are rotating in songs to make each show special. As METALLICA’s ‘Sad But True’ and OZZY OSBOURNE’s ‘Diary of a Madman’ boomed over the PA to get the audience in the appropriate mood. The lights went down followed by a loud cheer from hundreds of exciting fans. Opening the evening with ‘Imperium’, the fans ultimately knew, that with such a heavy start, they were in for a long night celebrating the band’s discography. From there, the band jumped right into the thrashier ‘Volatile’ to ‘Now We Die’, then back to a ‘The Blackening’ song ‘Beautiful Morning’. After a few songs Phil Demmel showed off his guitar skills while performing a stand-alone guitar solo which was followed by ‘The Darkness Within’. The band gave everything on stage and so did the crowd by celebrating them. The atmosphere was great and the sweat was immediately visible to many visitors, which is normal for a ‘Machine Head’ show because they love it to play in warm and sweaty locations.

machinehead presspass2018

In conclusion, Machine Head’s performance as part of the ‘An Evening With Machine Head’ tour was an undeniable success. The fact that a band that formed over 25 years ago can play with such intense ferocity and blast out those songs with the same level of precision, and still draw a crowd of such a vast size with no support acts is incredibly commendable. But at the very end, unfortunately I don’t have any pictures for you guys since the manager of the band didn’t allow us to take them even though we got the passes before even entering. We literally got send out while standing in front of the pit, ready to shoot MACHINE HEAD who have already been on stage. I’m pretty sure it’s not the fault of the band itself. Perhaps there was a problem in the communication between the band’s manager and the Den Atelier. All in all their show was great and I really enjoyed it.

Setlist
01. Imperium
02. Volatile
03. Now We Die
04. Beautiful Mourning
05. The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears
06. Kaleidoscope
07. Clenching the Fists of Dissent
08. Guitar Solo
09. Darkness Within
10. Catharsis
11. From This Day
12. Ten Ton Hammer
13. Is There Anybody Out There?
14. Locust
15. Beyond the Pale
16. Drum Solo
17. Bulldozer
18. Killers & Kings
19. Davidian
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20. Behind a Mask
21. Exhale the Vile
22. Triple Beam
23. Aesthetics of Hate
24. Game Over
25. Blood for Blood
26. Halo

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 10
Light: 8
Total: 9.5 / 10


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