When two bands named Gojira and Mastodon come up with a co-headlining tour it has to be called none other than “The Mega Moster Tour”. The first leg of the tour started in April, ended recently, and we were present at the second last show in Baltimore on May 10th.
It was a perfect sunny day in Baltimore and what better place than the Pier Six Pavillion for the show? At 7 PM the night started with Lorna Shore and what better start the audience can ask for? They almost has a cult following, there were fans who came to see just them and cheering to get a peak of them from the backstage. Will Ramos took charge of the vocals in 2021 and what a magnificent presence he has. Will, Adam, and Andrew on the guitars, Michael on the bass, and Austin on the drums performed songs mainly from their latest album “Pain Remains”. They ended the set with a promise to be back in the city and I am sure the fans will look forward to that.
Next up the stage was set with colors on the LED screen for one of the biggest names of heavy metal music - Mastodon. The band with the same 4 part lineup for over 20 years did what they do best - rock the hell out of the fans. The crowd was on their toes - cheering, moshing, and singing almost all the songs alongside the band. It is amazing to see how the band uses 3 vocals with 3 different textures and singing styles by Brann Dailor (Drums), Brent Hinds (Guitar), and Troy Sanders (Bass). Along with them, Bill Kelliher kills it with the sole focus on the guitar. For the 75 mins, they covered almost all of their hits like - “Megalodon”, “Andromeda”, “Streambreather” and finally to send with “Blood and Thunder”. The one-eyed monster also came on stage for one of the songs and did a little bit of headbanging in the back of the stage. Finally, Brann came to the front of the stage for a quick chat with the audience and rightly explained why Mastodon and Gojira are the pioneers of the genre “Whale-Core”.
Finally at 9:45 the French Metal legends Gojira came to the stage to conquer another US city. Again this is one such band that kept the same lineup for almost 25 years. The Duplantier brothers Joe and Mario on the guitars and drums show every second that heavy metal music runs in their blood. With them, the calmness of Christian Andreu on the guitar and the ultimate excitement of Jean-Michel Labadie on the bass is something to watch for. The band is known to create music with strong messages about the environment and spirituality. With not-so-over-the-top stage design and deep concentration on the music they were able to make the spiritual and philosophical connection with the audience - sometimes there was thunder in the background and the music emulating the sound of thunder, and sometimes Mario solely took the responsibility to engage the crowd with drums and thumbs up and down placards. The setlist consisted of - “Stranded”, “Silvera”, “The Gift of Guilt” and “Flying Whales” with an inflated whale literally flying in the crowd.
The was a stunning night at the pavilion by the harbor and a shoutout to the tour and venue management for the successful execution of the show.
Gojira
Mastodon
Lorna Shore
