Onioner
02-13-2011, 11:59 PM
I think this show was just a warmup for the Soundwave Festival tour, but HOF gave one hell of a show, even with only 75 mins. The openers Moses and Cold Grave weren't anything exceptional at all. However Cold Grave's drummer, this short guy who looked no older than 20, was an absolute MONSTER. His feet were wicked fast and he'd switch between hi-hat and bass pedals without missing a beat and had some really creative use of his cymbals. So props to him.
This was at Slim's, which is a really great venue. It's small and intimate, and the staff are some of the coolest I've ever met at a concert. There was no rail for the show, just the floor and stage. I was center/right and right in front of Matt the entire time. Watching the man play is an absolute privilege. His tone, that 9-string sound, and his energy is just something to behold. He was a super nice guy too. One guy next to me asked him for a pick (we were so close that we could pretty much talk to each other) to which Matt replied that he had only one. Then dude goes to the back for some water, and asks his roadie for another pick just to give to the fan. Jeff was on fire tonight too, squeezing in a ton of little bass fills here and there. Since I was so close to the stage that I was actually hearing only the sound of the amps and not the PA system, the vocals were pretty much inaudible. To be honest I really didn't care. Matt had obvious cottonmouth and I could tell he was mushmouthing the lyrics like he usually does. Seeing and hearing his guitar playing alone was worth the lack of vocals. Oh yeah, Des did his job admirably. He had way more of that signature swing that he has on the albums than he normally does live. Rumors of War was slowed down a little like it usually is, while Devilution was actually played at full speed which really surprised me since I saw them play it a bit slower in Oakland last May. Snakes For The Divine was slowed down quite a bit in the beginning actually, but Matt played the riff perfectly as a result and the band brought it back to full speed by the time the intro riff was played for the second time. All in all, this was pretty awesome. It was great that they showed love for all of their albums, even with the short set time. It's weird that Sleep played for 2 hours, while HOF only do 75 minutes, but hey, what can you do. Although not quite at the sheer level of majesty and skullfuckery of Sleep, but significantly better than the other times I've seen them, this was well worth my 18 dollars.
Also, I'm pretty sure I got the best HOF setlist I've ever seen. And no stupid encore break! Tack on Fury Whip, Cometh Down Hessian, and How Dark We Pray and I think you have the perfect High On Fire setlist.
1. Speedwolf :rocker:
2. Frost Hammer
3. Waste of Tiamat
4. Devilution
5. Fire, Flood And Plague
6. Blood From Zion
7. Hung, Drawn And Quartered :rocker:
8. Rumors of War
9. Bastard Samurai
10. Turk:D
11. Fireface :eek:
12. Snakes For The Divine
This was at Slim's, which is a really great venue. It's small and intimate, and the staff are some of the coolest I've ever met at a concert. There was no rail for the show, just the floor and stage. I was center/right and right in front of Matt the entire time. Watching the man play is an absolute privilege. His tone, that 9-string sound, and his energy is just something to behold. He was a super nice guy too. One guy next to me asked him for a pick (we were so close that we could pretty much talk to each other) to which Matt replied that he had only one. Then dude goes to the back for some water, and asks his roadie for another pick just to give to the fan. Jeff was on fire tonight too, squeezing in a ton of little bass fills here and there. Since I was so close to the stage that I was actually hearing only the sound of the amps and not the PA system, the vocals were pretty much inaudible. To be honest I really didn't care. Matt had obvious cottonmouth and I could tell he was mushmouthing the lyrics like he usually does. Seeing and hearing his guitar playing alone was worth the lack of vocals. Oh yeah, Des did his job admirably. He had way more of that signature swing that he has on the albums than he normally does live. Rumors of War was slowed down a little like it usually is, while Devilution was actually played at full speed which really surprised me since I saw them play it a bit slower in Oakland last May. Snakes For The Divine was slowed down quite a bit in the beginning actually, but Matt played the riff perfectly as a result and the band brought it back to full speed by the time the intro riff was played for the second time. All in all, this was pretty awesome. It was great that they showed love for all of their albums, even with the short set time. It's weird that Sleep played for 2 hours, while HOF only do 75 minutes, but hey, what can you do. Although not quite at the sheer level of majesty and skullfuckery of Sleep, but significantly better than the other times I've seen them, this was well worth my 18 dollars.
Also, I'm pretty sure I got the best HOF setlist I've ever seen. And no stupid encore break! Tack on Fury Whip, Cometh Down Hessian, and How Dark We Pray and I think you have the perfect High On Fire setlist.
1. Speedwolf :rocker:
2. Frost Hammer
3. Waste of Tiamat
4. Devilution
5. Fire, Flood And Plague
6. Blood From Zion
7. Hung, Drawn And Quartered :rocker:
8. Rumors of War
9. Bastard Samurai
10. Turk:D
11. Fireface :eek:
12. Snakes For The Divine