I made the trip to Flint on the night when seemingly every hunter was heading north – the freeways were jam packed. The Machine Shop was hosting Amaranthe, The Butcher Babies, and Lullwater. The show was sold out and the crowd was tightly packed inside the legendary club.
I walked into The Machine Shop as Lullwater, an alternative band from Athens, Georgia, opened the show. It was the first time I have ever seen Lullwater, but I had heard great things about them and they lived up to their reputation. I was impressed. They put on a highly energetic show. The band consists of John Strickland – Rhythm Guitar & Lead Vocals, Brett Strickland- Lead Guitar, Joseph Wilson – Drums & Vocals, and Ray Beatty – Bass & Vocals. Strickland’s strong voice cut through the sold out crowd. Lullwater played some of their popular songs including “Albatross”, “Tug of War”, and “Waste Yourself” in support of their latest album Revival, which was just released on October 23rd.
The Butcher Babies stormed the stage and immediately took control of the room. The hottest band in metal is fronted by dual vocalists Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey and backed by Henry Flury on lead guitar, Jason Klein on bass, and Chris Warner on drums. Butcher Babies are touring to support their latest album Take It Like A Man which dropped on August 21, 2015. Shepherd and Harvey were all over the stage, on the risers and touching hands with members of the crowd. Heidi climbed out into and on top of the Machine Shop crowd letting them sing along with her. The energy of this entire band is amazing. Nobody stood still for a second and the interaction with the audience was intense. The crowd was into every single song, singing along word for word as a massive mosh pit formed in front of the stage. They closed out the set with the hit song “Magnolia Blvd”.
Butcher Babies Set list:
“Monster’s Ball”
“Never Go Back”
“The Cleansing”
“Igniter”
“Jesus Needs More Babies for His War Machine”
“Mr. Slowdeath”
“Gravemaker”
“Thrown Away”
“They’re Coming to Take Me Away” Cover [Napoleon XIV]
“Magnolia Blvd.”
Swedish Metal band Amaranthe is touring to support their 2014 release, Massive Addictive. Amaranthe is: Elize Ryd – Vocals, Henrik Englund- Screams/Unclean Vocals, Chris Adams (fill in for Jake E. Lundberg who had to sit out the tour with a family emergency) -Clean Vocals, Olof Mörck – Guitars and Keys, Morten Sørensen – Drums, and Johan Andreassen – Bass.
The energy and charisma from Amaranthe was incredible. The trio of singers blended together for a smooth mix of metal, pop and electronica. They were full of energy, there was not a moment were they still, each one taking turns on the risers and jumping all over the stage. They opened with the hit song “Digital World” and the set never slowed down for one second.
Olof was super impressive on guitar, jumping up on the riser for a solo. The crowd screamed in approval. Elize, Henrik and Chris all interacting with the eager crowd and the photographers in the pit for the two songs we were able to shoot. They were a pleasure to watch since they work so well together and clearly enjoy their time on stage.
The 19 song set was packed full of their most popular songs, ranging from heavier songs like “1.000.000 Lightyears” to slower songs like “Amaranthine”. The amazing set closed with the crowd completely crazed during “Drop Dead Cynical” – probably their most popular song in the States. Amaranthe left it all on the stage on Friday night. Hopefully they saved a little something for the rest of their tour.
Amaranthe Set List:
“Digital World”
“Trinity”
“Hunger”
“Invincible”
“1.000.000 Lightyears”
“Mechanical Illusion”
“Over and Done”
“Massive Addictive”
“True”
“Unreal”
“Afterlife”
“Electroheart”
“Leave Everything Behind”
“Amaranthine”
“Call Out My Name”
“The Nexus”
“Razorblade”
“Dynamite”
“Drop Dead Cynical”
The Massive Collision Tour kicked off October 29th and runs through November 29, 2015. Time is running out! Find a way to make of these remaining shows:
Nov 17 Pop’s Concert Venue Sauget, IL
Nov 18 Juanita’s Little Rock, AR
Nov 19 Scout Bar Houston, TX
Nov 21 Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill Dallas, TX
Nov 23 Brick By Brick San Diego, CA
Nov 24 The Yost Theatre Santa Ana, CA
Nov 25 Pub Rock Scottsdale, AZ
Nov 27 Ace of Spades Sacramento, CA
Nov 28 Knitting Factory Concert House Reno, NV
Nov 29 RockBar Theater San Jose, CA
For more information on Amaranthe see their web site: http://amaranthe.se/
