Goblins? Check! Dragons? Check! Kloks? Check! Packed Crowd? Check!
Nekrogoblikon kicked off the show with raspy screams and goblin-like cleans. The duo of Dickie Allen and John Goblikon were great together. In between songs, the duo played to the crowd offering sometimes crude, humorous banter. You could tell they didn’t take themselves too seriously, and I mean that in the best way. The guitar riffage of Alex Alereza and Joe Nelson was tight, and technical and provided plenty of low end in the absence of a bass player. And last, but certainly not least, drummer Eric W. Brown and keyboardist Aaron Minich brought the songs together into nicely wrapped packages. I highly enjoyed their entire set, and they’ve definitely got a new fan. Songs such as “Bones”, “Many Faces”, and “This Is It” really stuck out to me and the crowd was really into them.
Up next was London-based, DragonForce. I knew the name, I knew of arguably their most popular song, and I most certainly knew of Herman Li and Sam Totman, the guitar duo behind the band. I wasn’t prepared for the neon sunglasses, huge arcade cabinets, and massive blow-up dragons on stage. Video game references in songs such as “Power of the Triforce”, a song clearly about “The Legend of Zelda” games, offered a familiar nostalgia. They even brought out a big stuffed chicken (called cuckoo in the game) that made its way through the crowd as they blasted through the song. The guitar playing was clean and very technical. At one point, guitarists Li and Totman joined bassist Alicia Vigil on the center stage riser and played their instruments in unconventional ways. Drummer Gee Anzalone had one of the coolest drum kits I’ve ever seen and he rocked the hell out of them on songs like “Fury” and “Doomsday”. Vocalist Marc Hudson really showed off his talent in all of the songs and commanded the crowd in “Cry Thunder”. The band closed out their set with the platinum-certified “Through the Fire and Flames”.
Finally, it was time for Dethklok. For the uninitiated (like myself) Dethklok is a real band based on a fictional cartoon (Metalocalypse) band of the same name created by singer/guitarist Brendon Small. I’ve never experienced a set like theirs, with band members in silhouette while the focus is animation that plays on a screen behind them. Every few songs, Facebones (a Metalocalypse character) would come on the screen and give some hints on proper concert etiquette. The band tore through songs like “Briefcase Full of Guts”, “Aortic Desecration”, and “I Ejaculate Fire”. The packed crowd was singing along to all of the songs. The rest of the band consists of guitarist Nili Brosh, drummer Gene Hoglan, and bassist Bryan Beller.
by Chris Krissoff
Instagram - @chris.krissoff, Facebook - Chris Krissoff Photography
April 13, 2024
Dethklok
DragonForce
nekrogoblikon
