Sepultura in New Orleans
It was a dark and stormy day. That's strange because Louisiana has been in a drought for an extensive period of time. Yet, the sky opened, and it rained an ungodly amount for this assortment of legendary metal bands. The Civic Theatre has long been friendly to this genre, and it's the most beautiful place to see it in this city. The walls reflected a moody blue and deep purple lights shone on the vacant stage.
Tribal Gaze, a young band less than a decade old, was the first in the lineup, and they got the rowdy crowd amped up. Vocalist McKenna Holland had good energy, jumping and kicking along to the beat in addition to headbanging so much. He wielded the mic stand like a weapon; it may very well be a weapon in his hands. He stated, "This next one goes out to Exodus. Get that f**king pit moving!" Quintin Stauts and Ian Kilmer on the guitars provided awesome breakdowns of slow grinds peppered with occasional silence, the kind that builds anticipation and grants release when over. Drummer Cesar De Los Santos performed an awesome solo after one such breakdown. Why don't more metal bands do that?
The victorious theme from Rocky signaled the entrance of Biohazard. The guys burst onto the stage bouncing around gleefully like they were still teenage boys. Nothing was safe, the amps were trampled and mic stands teetered after being stuck during "Urban Discipline" and "Shades of Grey." Unfortunately, guitarist Bobby Hambel took a tumble off the stage, straddling the edge of it. It didn't stop him, however. He kept playing and even handed a fan his pick before the stage hands pulled him back up. He still whirled and ran rapidly, playing blazing solos like nothing happened.
Guitarist/vocalist Billy Graziadei dedicated the third song "Wrong Side of the Tracks" to their late friend Ameet Kapoor who was robbed and murdered in the French Quarter in March. A somber hush fell over the crowd, but they slowly got back into the mosh in honor of this fallen fan. Evan Seinfeld, looking and moving as youthful as ever, brought back the fun energy by "not" encouraging anyone to go over the barricade and make the security personnel earn their pay. During "Black and White and Red All Over," Seinfeld asked them to light up the venue with their phone lights. I have a new appreciation for Biohazard after this. I'm not typically into this brand of hardcore-infused music, but the energy, the fun, the way that guitarist and vocalist engaged the crowd, throwing out picks after the set, the awesome and somewhat groovy guitar parts sold me.
After a rest period, Queen's "We Will Rock You" boomed around the room as the stage lights strobed to the stomping beat. A sacrilege horned creature fed a human to the shark toothed mouth in his palm on the banner that read Exodus. Vocalist Rob Dukes was wearing an Acid Bath shirt, surely much to the excitement of many people in the surging audience, but he didn't come to talk to us about that. He sang, growled, scowled, remaining in bad ass mode every second through "Bonded By Blood," "Deathamphetamine," and "Blacklist." His movements seemed like he was possessed: involuntary on his part and intentional on the demons part. His minions mirrored his gestures since he gave no verbal orders except for one: bang your f**king head. Eventually Rob did speak to the crowd doing call and response playfully, and he concluded, "You guys are all in a band now!" This declaration preceded "Lesson In Violence," which really whipped the crowd into a melee.
The incomparable guitarist Gary Holt performed amazing shedding, piercing solos for every song, but I think that "Goliath" was the most impressive. Before "Toxic Waltz," the band started into a Metallica song to be humorous, but they began playing the correct piece. This somehow summoned a strange, Carrot Top-looking creature to appear. He threw out picks and even played a little guitar before disappearing.
As many bands do, Sepultura chose Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" as their triumphant pre-song. The stage was clean. There was a subtle background draped behind them, but you could barely see it beyond the intense uplights. The band members didn't even use stage monitors. The music and the lights are the only drama you need. That was evident as a retrospective of some of their popular song intros emanated as they walked on. They wasted no time launching into "Beneath the Remains."
I retreated to the balcony for this set. From up there, the floor seemed to be a dervish of humanity. You could feel the heat rising from the movement of clashing bodies during "Desperate Cry," "Means to An End," and "Attitude." Guitarist Andreas Kisser and 23-year-old drummer Greyson Nekrutman's neck-breaking speed and frantically-strobing lights left no room for rest. The brutality of the music was broken up by Andreas and vocalist Derrick Green taking turns telling the audience nice things like they feel blessed to be here with us tonight.
Green used his naturally deep singing voice for new songs from The Cloud of Unknowing "The Place" and "Beyond the Dream," which were trance inducing, slow and methodical with heavy parts. The intensity dialed up when the band dedicated a cover of "Orgasmatron" to Motörhead and performed their biggest numbers including "Refuse/Resist." My favorite moment was when extra drums and an acoustic guitar were brought out so that the band could flex their Brazilian heritage. This is when the metal genre really shines: the mixing of old world sounds with meticulous and heavy sounds.
Of course, the set ended with a pounding rendition of "Roots Bloody Roots," an undeniable banger. Even with four bands, it all seemed to end so fast. New Orleans is a regular tour stop for Sepultura, and we can't wait for their next show.
