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Mastadon
Artist: Mastodon
Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.
Venue: SXSW Dew Music Festival at Town Lake, 8 p.m. Saturday
Pre-show buzz: Many of us continue to hold out hope they will become the next Metallica without having to make their “Black Album.” We’ll see. That said, with the exception of Boris, Mastodon is coolest, heaviest band in ages to play the free SXSW show.
High point: Gorgeous weather; singer/guitarist Brent Hinds’ Kylesa t-shirt on the JumboTron; the galloping, triumphant one-two opening combo of “The Wolf is Loose” and “Crystal Skull,” the first two songs on the band’s major label debut “Blood Mountain;” the tasteful mid-set placement of the band’s breakout single “March of the Fire Ants; bassist/singer Troy Sanders’ “metal face.”
Low point: A few songs got a little too complicated and slowed the set, but this was a minor complaint. For most of Saturday, it was blissfully possible to forget that March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, the day an ethnic group is celebrated by everyone engaging in that group’s single worst stereotype. Ah, well. The crowd (and Against Me!, who played right before Mastodon) made this impossible to forget. But if you’re going to have an outdoor metal show on St. Patrick’s Day, shouldn’t the between band music be Thin Lizzy? For shame.
Post-show buzz: Big crowd + nice evening + cutting-edge metal presented for free = extra-large fun for the whole family. And yes, there were whole families there.
Afterthoughts: Not a bad way to start a Saturday night.
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