Last evening took me to Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles with Doug, Bones and Toni to see Meshuggah in concert, featuring The Faceless and Cynic. The Faceless, who I'd see play at the Lamb of God concert, was relatively decent, although I find it difficult to get into their music due to the monotonous vocals and the stop-start tendency of their music. Cynic I'd never heard before, and I found their sound to be very unique and interesting; sort of ethereal in a metal sort of way.
The audience was an interesting melting pot of meat heads in wife-beaters, stringy-haired head bangers sporting a metal band of choice on their oversized tees, flannel-attired nerds with shifty eyes darting behind their thick-rimmed glasses, women in mini-skirts and corsets, in black baggy tops and jeans, and in whatever they damn well pleased.
It's one thing to watch a metal show, and quite another to be in the show. I enjoy watching the opening bands from a higher platform; it's a good way to get into the energy of the place and the event. The pit is where it's at though, and after last night, a Meshuggah pit is the place to be to have an insanely out-of-control good time. As soon as we'd made our way down into the pit between sets, I could just feel how crazy things were going to get as soon as Meshuggah came on stage. People were excited before the act; the energy spiked to insanity as soon as drums, guitar, bass and screams rolled. A telling transformation was this guy that I was standing next to: he looked a lot like a hippy, tall and skinny with his long hair in a bun and a trimmed beard on his face, sporting a silk lavender shirt and some tribal-looking necklace. He seemed very laid back initially, almost bored. As soon as the music came on though, he tore his hair-band out so that his hair fell free, flashed double devil horns, and proceeded to be out of control for the rest of the evening.
I've never been in a crazier pit!!! It was totally unreal, and SO much fun! The crowd was surging the entire time, you were constantly fighting to keep your place and to force people away. I definitely ended up lauching a few people there... at one point I had to tame a fro that was a little out of control in front of me. And moshing is always a great time. As a woman, people either shy away from touching you, or they try to absolutely launch you. They don't usually expect to be launched back, though. :) The best is forming your mosh-pit brotherhood where you get props and support from other moshers.
Surprisingly I didn't get many wounds, just a few heads smashed into the back of mine at various points, ringing ears, and a few attempts were made to undo the lacing of my shirt to no avail.
Anyway, it was definitely one of the best concerts I've been to. I've looked at a few live videos on YouTube from various Meshuggah shows, but none encapsulate the madness that was in last night's audience. Here is Bleed though:
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