The Justice

Horse the Band gave a ferocious performance at a metal mega-show at Worcester's Palladium on Friday. Tatianna Tripp/the Justice.

The Palladium in Worcester, Mass. was made greater by the sound of primal and unfiltered fury as metal acts Animosity, Horse the Band and Between the Buried and Me performed Friday, Nov. 2. Because a concert featuring alternative rock bands Trapt and Fuel occurred on the same night at the venue's main stage, the bands played in a small upstairs venue at the Palladium to a sold-out crowd. The variety and intense dissonance of the bands' music left the crowd pulverized but also revitalized and incredibly entertained.

Despite facing some sound troubles, Animosity delivered a solid set that got the crowd moving. Fan favorites such as "The Black Page" led to intense mosh pits. The band's ferocious and pleasing breakdowns spurred the crowd into a frenzy.

Once Horse the Band came on, however, the evening changed from a simple concert into a journey through the subconscious and latent memories of childhood. As keyboardist Erik Engstrom played his Nintendo-influenced riffs, memories of Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda filled the air. Like preteens reacting to the irritating but galvanizing music that plays when you run out of time in a Sonic the Hedgehog stage, the crowd responded to Horse's styling with an almost desperate wave of crowd surfing and stage diving.

At one point, members of the band were hit by the feet of a stage diver. A humorous moment followed when lead singer Nathan Winneke proceeded to show the crowd the dos and don'ts of stage diving. Winneke has mastered the art of rapport, and, at varying moments, joked, jostled and bossed around the crowd with authority.

The band started strong but ended on an even higher note with its ferocious penultimate song "Kangarooster Meadows," whose shocking vocals struck me with their anger. Fans lifted their arms and made scissoring motions as the band began the final song and fan favorite "Cutsman." The intense introduction to the song made me feel like Megaman charging my blaster to prepare to take on my most vicious foe. The mosh pit felt like a battlefield as lifelong enemies collided. "We don't believe in songs, we believe in good times," Winneke said at one point during the set. The band, however, was able to deliver both in abundance.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools