The Mastodon Thread v. Emperor of Sand!

[Lonk]

Anyone caught Mastodon and Gojira on the current tour? They're playing near me in a few weeks, but logistically it will be tricky for me to get there on time. I want to make it work.

Seeing them this coming Saturday. This would be my 5th(maybe 6th?) time seeing them and they do not disappoint.

Though if I'm being honest, I'm more excited for Gojira since I've never seen them live.

[Samsara]

I saw the tour earlier this year. It's really good. I had never seen Gojira. I am glad I did. Not sure I need to see them again, but I see why people love them. Mastodon's set was great.

[Metro]

Had to miss the Richmond show a few months ago, unfortunately. Randy Blythe from Lamb of God came out and did a song with Gojira, and later Joe from Gojira did the bridge to Blood and Thunder.

[lordxizor]

I think I'm just going to buy a ticket and make it work. Show is on a Sunday night. I'll be camping with the family that weekend about 3 hours from home. So I just need to leave early enough to get home, drop off the family and unload the car, then drive 45 minutes to the show by 7:00. Should be possible if I plan.

[Lonk]

I think I'm just going to buy a ticket and make it work. Show is on a Sunday night. I'll be camping with the family that weekend about 3 hours from home. So I just need to leave early enough to get home, drop off the family and unload the car, then drive 45 minutes to the show by 7:00. Should be possible if I plan.

Killer show yesterday, so highly recommend it. Hope you can make it work. The setlist was pretty good (for my taste at least), just a good mixed of songs, which included one that I was not expecting 

Gojira was good as well, but I thought their sound mix could've been better, the bass was overpowering other instruments. Also their setlist started out really strong, but kind of ended on a not-so-strong note, but still enjoyable set 

[wolfking]

Just looking through the recent set and it's an incredible looking set of songs.  The amount of old stuff is super surprising.  I wonder if that's possibly an indication of some heavier stuff with the next album?

[lordxizor]

I did pick up a ticket. It's at an outdoor venue so hopefully the rain stays away. Feels like it's been raining every day here lately.

[Nachtmerrie]

Just looking through the recent set and it's an incredible looking set of songs.  The amount of old stuff is super surprising.  I wonder if that's possibly an indication of some heavier stuff with the next album?

That setlist is some serious
I´m totally in for some heavier stuff though Hushed & Grim is among my favorite albums.

[twosuitsluke]

They’re playing lots of Blood Mountain right? That’s the dream.

[cramx3]

Just looking through the recent set and it's an incredible looking set of songs.  The amount of old stuff is super surprising.  I wonder if that's possibly an indication of some heavier stuff with the next album?

It may have to do with Mastodon performing between Gojira and Lorna Shore.  They probably chose a set list that fans of those bands may be more interested in.

I think I'm just going to buy a ticket and make it work. Show is on a Sunday night. I'll be camping with the family that weekend about 3 hours from home. So I just need to leave early enough to get home, drop off the family and unload the car, then drive 45 minutes to the show by 7:00. Should be possible if I plan.

Killer show yesterday, so highly recommend it. Hope you can make it work. The setlist was pretty good (for my taste at least), just a good mixed of songs, which included one that I was not expecting 

Gojira was good as well, but I thought their sound mix could've been better, the bass was overpowering other instruments. Also their setlist started out really strong, but kind of ended on a not-so-strong note, but still enjoyable set 

I wish I was able to go to the show last Saturday

[Samsara]

Just looking through the recent set and it's an incredible looking set of songs.  The amount of old stuff is super surprising.  I wonder if that's possibly an indication of some heavier stuff with the next album?

It may have to do with Mastodon performing between Gojira and Lorna Shore.  They probably chose a set list that fans of those bands may be more interested in.

That was my thought as well. Personally, I love the direction Mastodon has gone in. I love Blood Mountain as a record. But Hushed and Grim and Crack the Skye are the pinnacles for me personally in their catalog. Can be heavy as hell, but they use mood so, so well. I knew I wouldn't get a ton of moody stuff this time around given who they were playing with. But I hope on future tours they still play a good chunk of Hushed and Grim. They didn't play near me on that tour, and I was so disappointed.

[nick_z]

That was my thought as well. Personally, I love the direction Mastodon has gone in. I love Blood Mountain as a record. But Hushed and Grim and Crack the Skye are the pinnacles for me personally in their catalog. Can be heavy as hell, but they use mood so, so well. I knew I wouldn't get a ton of moody stuff this time around given who they were playing with. But I hope on future tours they still play a good chunk of Hushed and Grim. They didn't play near me on that tour, and I was so disappointed.

Agree with a lot of this - Crack the Skye is my favorite Mastodon, and Hushed and Grim was such a pleasant surprise. Not that I dislike any Mastodon record, but neither Once More nor Emperor of Sand truly hit me the way others did and, as you say, H&G managed to deliver many of those "emotional" moments that I felt were missing in their recent output. The "mood" amidst the heavy, precisely.

That said, if I look at the whole discography, I would still probably rank Leviathan and Blood Mountain right after Crack the Skye. But H&G is not too far behind, and I certainly didn't expect that when it came out.

[Buddyhunter1]

Gojira was good as well, but I thought their sound mix could've been better, the bass was overpowering other instruments.

It was the opposite for me at the Boston show last night. Gojira's sound was great but Mastodon's was terrible. The drums and guitars were super muddy. And I have no idea what their touring keyboardist was even doing on 90% of the songs.

Setlist spoiler: Very happy they busted out March Of The Fire Ants, that kicked ass.

[lordxizor]

Saw the show in Minnesota last night. Not my ideal setlist from Madtodon, but I get they were going for heavier for this tour. Would have loved to hear more from Hushed and Grim which I think is a pretty brilliant album. I'll echo was someone else said about Mastodon's sound not being as good as Gojira's. I thought their screensaver projections weren't great either. I preferred Gojira's light and video shows by a long shot. I love Mastodon a lot, but unfortunately I don't think they're a great live band. They're pretty tight instrumentally, but vocally I think they've got some work to do. Troy is pretty spot on. Brent is kind of a mess, particularly on the clean vocals. Brann is decent and I'll cut him some slack since he's playing the drums. Still a lot of fun to see them play though. I wish I were more into Gojira. They're one of those bands that I want to like more than I actually like. They put on a good show though.

[Podaar]

I'm seeing this show this week. I'm really looking forward to it!

I notice y'all aren't talking much about Lorna Shore. Did any of you watch their set, how was it? I'm tempted to skip it...deathcore isn't my bag, really. The young crowd seems to think it's super-keen that the vocalist can make a giant bullfrog sound--they call it brooootal! I actually laughed myself sick when I heard it.

[Lonk]

I'm seeing this show this week. I'm really looking forward to it!

I notice y'all aren't talking much about Lorna Shore. Did any of you watch their set, how was it? I'm tempted to skip it...deathcore isn't my bag, really. The young crowd seems to think it's super-keen that the vocalist can make a giant bullfrog sound--they call it brooootal! I actually laughed myself sick when I heard it.

They're not really my thing. I saw the set and was ready for it to be over after the second song.

[PixelDream]

I saw Mastodon on their tour in Europe last year but the sound wasn't all that great.

I suspected them of just using the in-house mix engineer because every time Brent Hinds had a solo, it was only audible after 5-10 seconds. It was like this guy didn't know the music at all. Also, zero reverb or delay on the vocals, really weird. Stage-wise, they only had a backdrop and for the rest they used the house lights. Which is understandable as it's overseas for them, but still. It felt a bit dry all in all.

Gojira on the other hand, always have amazing sound live.

[lordxizor]

I'm seeing this show this week. I'm really looking forward to it!

I notice y'all aren't talking much about Lorna Shore. Did any of you watch their set, how was it? I'm tempted to skip it...deathcore isn't my bag, really. The young crowd seems to think it's super-keen that the vocalist can make a giant bullfrog sound--they call it brooootal! I actually laughed myself sick when I heard it.

They're not really my thing. I saw the set and was ready for it to be over after the second song.

I got there about halfway through Lorna Shore. Not my thing musically at all. They had good energy and crowd seemed to be into it though.

[Podaar]

Saw the show last night, and I loved it! The set list was unrelenting though. My son (who isn't as familiar with Mastodon as I am) got a bit fatigued about 2/3rds through their set. I wouldn't have minded it if they would have thrown in a few mid strength songs too. Steambreather was about as tame as it got.    Their stage show wasn't bad but wasn't up to par with the other times I've seen them. Troy and Brent sang great. Bran struggled a bit, but that's to be expected when he's basically doing rapid fills for an hour and a half.

Gojira was fantastic and easily had a better stage presentation and crowd engagement. I really like how they don't have a manufactured heavy image, the music does the talking. I mean, these guys look like upper-middle-class 30 somethings that you would bump into at the grocery store. No piercings, no tattoos, no weird clothes, just heavy rock with lights, screen images, and pyrotechnics that really fit the song they were playing at the time. I'm a fan!

The concert wasn't well attended either. There were half as many people there as for Ghost just a few weeks earlier. That surprised me. So did the amount of people who left after Lorna Shore, and then again after Gojira. I'd guess the audience thinned by 500 - 1000 people by the time Mastodon started playing. Strange for a Friday night, I thought.

[lordxizor]

I got the sense at the MN show that the majority was there to see Gojira (who played last) and there was a not insignificant number of people there only to see Lorna Shore. The people nest to me left after their set was done.