Machine Head – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 14th March @ The Forum, Melb VIC
📷: Clinton Hatfield
Machine Head
The Forum, Melbourne VIC.
March 14, 2024.
Support: Fear Factory, Frankenbok.
It’s with no disrespect that I missed the opening band, Melbourne’s own Frankenbok. As a husband with 3 young kids, a 7pm kick off time is always hard work. I have great memories of seeing them in the past and don’t doubt they gave the crowd a great taste of what was to come.
Melbourne has always been a Fear Factory city. There were three decades worth of T-shirts among the nearly sold out crowd. There was no one hanging back at the bar for this one. From the brutal 1-2 punch of ‘Shock’ and ‘Edgecrusher’ to Genexus tune ‘Dielectric’, the crowd was pumped for some industrial carnage. The new guy, Milo Silvestro, has the growls and the pipes to pull off the songs as recorded and still have enough breath for crowd banter. ‘Powershifter’ went hard, with drummer Pete Webber (Havok) smashing the hell out of his kick drums. Milo taught the audience the pre chorus to ‘Fuel Injected Suicide Machine’ and the crowd shouted it back on cue. His call out, “Everybody bounce”, kicked off nu metal classic ‘Lynchpin’. There was no shortage of hits from classics to deeper cuts (from the non Dino Cazares era) with ‘Slave Labour’ and ‘Archetype’ both getting a big reaction.
But there’s one album to rule them all and when Dino introduces ‘Demanufacture’ it hits all the old fellas in the room hard. There’s gonna be some mighty sore necks after this one. ‘Zero Signal’ (AKA the song from Mortal Kombat) is arguably Milo’s high point as he handles the transition from growl to clean with a sheer intensity. He’s also got a device onstage for doing his own vocal effects which is cool. They rounded out the Demanufacture suite with the almighty ‘Replica’. How do you top that? We sing “Happy Birthday” to bass player Tony Campos. Then you bring back the almost power ballad ‘Resurrection’ for the first time in many years. It’s 25 years since it came out and the crowd is a fair bit older (with a lot more wearing ear plugs) but no less enthusiastic.
As Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Diary of a Madman’ reached its climax, the lights went out and Machine Head took the stage with their traditional set opener – ‘Imperium’. The Forum went completely mental, before the band dipped into ‘Ten Ton Hammer’ and new track ‘BECOME THE FIRESTORM’, which opened up a circle pit.
Lead guitarist Reece Scruggs (also of Havok) actually brought out an old Dimebag guitar for ‘Aesthetics of Hate’, which kept the thrash fest moving along. Despite its ferocity, it remains an emotional high point of a Machine Head set with the video wall displaying a silhouette of Dime during the solos. Classic single ‘Old’ followed, which got a massively loud reception from the older crowd.
After so much speed, ‘Locust’ was a nice mood changer but man did the bass drums kick me in the ribs.
It’s worth noting that the new songs, from ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN, still got a rise out of the crowd. These tunes were a great display of the more complex vocal harmonies since Jared joined the band, particularly on ‘NO GODS, NO MASTERS’ and an epic rendition of ‘SLAUGHTER THE MARTYR’.
Robb Flynn mentioned different set lists for both nights (which I guess will apply to Sydney as well). He gave the crowd a choice of three covers: Metallica’s ‘Motorbreath’ (cheers), ‘All the Small Things’ by Blink 182 (groans), or Iron Maiden’s ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ (massive roar).
So of course they did a snippet of ‘All the Small Things’ (with Jared on vocals) before doing ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ in full. There was much rejoicing with arms around each other and a beer fueled crowd in full voice.
I’ve seen Machine Head nine times now but this was the best I’ve seen them look on stage. The presentation, with animations on the video wall, was top notch and way above other bands I’ve seen in the same venue. There wasn’t pyro but the visuals were a treat, even down to displaying animated versions of the MH logos from Supercharger (for ‘Bulldozer’) and The Burning Red (‘From This Day’). What was different from the last few tours is that this isn’t the two-and-a-half hour ‘Evening With…’ shows. As a result there was a little less banter from Flynn and not much in the way of new songs (only the three mentioned already) or deeper album tracks. Nothing at all from Bloodstone and Diamonds (which is a shame) or Catharsis (likely a popular decision).
No Machine Head gig feels complete until we’ve thrown ourselves around to the all time legendary ‘Davidian’ with its iconic refrain: “let freedom ring with a shotgun blast!” It was a hellacious scene, one that culminated in defeating chants for “MACHINE FUCKING HEAD” until they reemerged for an encore. As much as ‘Imperium’ is the perennially opener, ‘Halo’ has come to signify an end to a Machine Head experience. And what a way to go out. From the opening bass and drums through the solo trade offs and guitar harmonies, it remains a colossal musical statement.
Considering how long we have waited to see both bands back here, through new albums and lineup changes, I gotta say it was worth the wait.
Anyone got a spare ticket for Night 2?
Words by KJ Draven (Twitter X and Instagram).
Photo Gallery by Clinton Hatfield. Insta: @ampd.agency.
Please credit Wall of Sound and Clinton Hatfield if you repost photos.
Frankenbok
Fear Factory
Machine Head
Machine Head & Fear Factory – SLAUGHTER THE MARTØUR WØRLD TØUR
Saturday 16th March SYDNEY – Enmore Theatre – SOLD OUT
Sunday 17th March SYDNEY – Enmore Theatre