Neurosis -- Austin, TX -- February 17th, 2013
 

Eye
My Heart for Deliverance
At the End of the Road
Times of Grace
Distill (Watching the Swarm)
At the Well
The Tide
We All Rage in Gold
Bleeding the Pigs
Given to the Rising
Locust Star


I was excited to be in attendance at one of the few Neurosis shows that they’re doing in support of last year’s [I]Honor Found in Decay[/I]. I arrived to Emo’s about 30 minutes after doors opened and there were already a hundred or so people in the venue. The Neurosis merch table was against the side wall and the line spanned the entire width of the venue. With $15 shirts and $40 hoodies selling like mad Neurosis basically had a license to print money. When Rwake started playing 30 minutes later the Neurosis merch line remained, cutting a path through the crowd. I’m not familiar enough with them to post a setlist, but Rwake sounded great. Between their sludgy riffs, dual vocalist and epic psychedelic moments they were an excellent opener for Neurosis.

Eyehategod was originally slated to be the direct support for Neurosis, but due to personal reasons they had to drop their upcoming shows. Despite Emo’s putting out a message regarding EHG canceling there still seemed to be quite a few upset people in the crowd just learning of it upon arrival at the show. As a last minute replacement the Houston noise rock band Pain Teens stepped up to do a reunion show. I am not familiar with them and even though they’re a Texas band, the crowd didn’t seem to be either. I think this is the only second such reunion they’ve done in years, so it’s cool that they were willing to do it to support Neurosis, but it just didn’t fit as well as EHG would have.

But turns out, it the opening bands would quickly become a distant memory once Neurosis hit the stage. Even without any visuals Neurosis is absolutely mesmerizing to watch. Opening with Eye was intense and set the tone for the rest of the show. Their intensity was even more palpable in the slower parts of songs. It’s hard to complain about a Neurosis setlist since the band has such a great catalog of music, any songs they play are going to sound really tight. The new tracks from [I]Honor Found in Decay[/I] got a good crowd response with My Heart for Deliverance being my personal favorite. I can safely say that this is hands-down one of the best performances/live bands I have ever seen. They are the kind of band that locks together like the gears of a machine and everything connects with mechanical precision. If you get the chance, don't miss Neurosis. :blaze:

Great review, sounds like you had fun. Still kind of pissed that I missed this.

Did Pain Teens play that EHG cover?

I wish i would have driven up to see this. I've only seen Neurosis once when they openned for Soulfly back in 1998. I even had this circled on my calendar but still didn't make it up there. Looks like it would have been a great time. I'm really glad they moved Emos; the old place was way to hard to move around in. It would probably be better if they sold the band merch toward the back, but its probably up front so everyone can see it when they walk to the restroom and up toward the stage.