monster magnet live

I’d been looking forward to this gig for a long time because Monster Magnet are a band I’ve wanted to see for years and yet somehow circumstances have always led to me missing them, whether it be the now legendary slot at Big Day Out when they set the stage on fire at the end of their set (something I regret missing to this very day) or the last tour which was cancelled due to Dave Wyndorf’s overdose.

After a short delay getting in to the venue I find the first support band playing to a fairly empty venue. Initially I was quite surprised since as far as I was aware the only support band on the tour was Karma to Burn, an entirely instrumental band, so to see a band with a singer playing threw me for a minute. I never caught the band’s name during the gig, though a little internet research afterwards turned up the fact that they were a band from Texas called Lions who were the only unsigned band to have a song featured on Guitar Hero III, but I did quite enjoy their no frills, riff heavy rock and they were a very good warm up for the rest of the night.

Karma to Burn, as I mentioned earlier, are an entirely instrumental band but not for them the widdly widdly showing off of how many notes they can play in a second that many instrumental bands peddle. Karma to Burn favour a heavy, groove filled riffy approach with actual songs that have such energy and even variation in their stoner / metal grooves that even the lack of a vocal line to follow doesn’t distract from the quality of the music. Some bands may have struggled to have stage presence with the lack of an out and out frontman but Karma to Burn hold everyone’s attention magnificently and the venue noticeably fills up throughout their set with seemingly as many people there to see them as the headline act. A definite triumph for a very original band and one that should see their forthcoming headline dates well attended.

So, onto my very first time seeing Monster Magnet then... and I have to admit that I didn’t actually recognise Dave Wyndorf when he strolled onstage, looking more like a fat roadie than the leather trousered rock god of old, and strapped his (rarely used) guitar on. Fortunately his piling on of the pounds hasn’t affected Dave’s voice one iota and throughout the night his pipes are in fine form. Kicking off with a trio of some of the band’s most recognisable songs in Dopes to Infinity, Crop Circle and Powertrip proves to be a masterstroke with the audience energised straight away and Dave proving himself every inch the perfect frontman with the audience in the palm of his hand right from the start. The band deserve great credit for playing the songs aired tonight so well with both guitarists crunching out the riffs and the rhythm section solidly keeping everything together even when heading off down the occasional psychedelic cul-de-sac, most notably when they veer into a bit of American Pie during the closing Spine of God!

It was perhaps a bit odd that the band didn’t play anything at all from the last two albums, indeed the very opposite of what I normally complain about when bands seem to drop anything older than their most recent two albums but personally I’m far more familiar with the material that did get played than anything from those albums so I was more than happy with the setlist.

So, my first time seeing Monster Magnet was a triumph then, band on top form, great setlist and a brilliant atmosphere in the audience, what more could anyone ask for? I only wish I’d managed to see the band sooner!

by Neil Woodfin