At The Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey on October 9th, 2024
On the heels of their ninth studio album release “Call The Devil” via Napalm Records, American heavy metal band Mushroomhead embarked on the fall North American (mostly Eastern part of US) tour supported by Upon A Burning Body, There Is No Us and Mind Incision. Masked metal masters arrived to New Jersey on October 9th to play a show at The Starland Ballroom.
Written by Andris Jansons
The first band of the night called Mind Incision I unfortunately missed. My evening started witnessing fellow music photographer’s Jim Louvau’s own music project called There Is No Us. As most of Industrial Metal bands they encompass the anger and dissatisfaction with the state of the world and society, and for Jim a lot of personal complexity from the desperate times when he wrote his music. Their self-titled album was released this year. Their performance was excellent, and had very strong vibes of traditional Industrial Metal. All of their songs came from their latest record and for the end the band played Killing In The Name Of , Rage Against The Machine cover.
There Is No Us links
See full gallery of There Is No Us performance here
Hell Yeah! Next band to come on stage hails from San Antonio, Texas called Upon A Burning Body. Just as they bill themselves as the band that eave it all on stage for fans – every show, every riff, every scream. Vocalist Danny Leal puts Energizer bunny to the shame, there is just no stopping him, from the first minute of the show to the last one, 100% supercharged energy.
With six studio albums under their belt the band touched almost all of them in their set, and played their three latest singles as well – An Insatiable Hunger, Another Ghost and Killshot. The last song of set went for all Bad M….r F….s out there. The song B.M.F. taken from bands fourth studio album Straight from the Barrio was complete blast. During the set Danny multiple times rallied the crowd to be more active, who were a bit usually quit for an NJ crowd. But, this ended that quietness, and they moshed, the crowd surfed and screamed Hell Yeah!
Upon A Burning Body links
See full gallery of Upon A Burning Body performance
Hmm, how can we go forward after that kind of a moment? SpongeBob SquarePants of course!!! As nights headliner Mushroomhead were heading to the stage most beloved children’s cartoon series theme song blasted on a full volume, and everyone loved it (needless to say we all know the song and can sing a long).
The band put together the sixteen-song strong setlist, with songs that span their vast discography with only two coming from the latest release – Fall In Line and Prepackaged.
Their on-stage performance is very distinctive. Band incorporates costumes and masks in their visual trademark look, use of two sets of water drums, to add visual aesthetic to the eerie atmosphere. Bands female vocalist Jackie LaPonza was the only one not sporting the mask but rather having sexy cowgirl look.
The really takes the live show to the next level. They ventured into the crowd often. Let it be to stand near barricade or fully lunging into the fans and literally being carried by the fan’s hands. All that together with the visual elements that I mentioned earlier make up for a amazing fan experience that can’t be missed.
Mushroomhead links
See full gallery of Mushroomhead performance
MUSHROOMHEAD are:
Steve Rauckhorst – Vocals
Scott Beck – Vocals
Jackie LaPonza – Vocals
Dave Felton – Guitar
Joe Gall – Guitar
Ryan Farrell – Guitar, Bass, Keys
Aydin Kerr – Drums, Percussion
Robert Godsey – Drums, Percussion
Steve Felton – Drums, Percussion, Keys, Vocals
The tour will go on till the end of the month. Get your tickets here.
USA 2024 Tour
w/ Upon a Burning Body, There Is No Us, and Mind Incision:
10/12/24: Pittsburg, PA @ Preserving Underground
10/13/24: Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
10/15/24: Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
10/16/24: Belvidere, IL @ Apollo Theater
10/18/24: Green Bay, WI @ Epic Events Center
10/19/24: Joliet, IL @ The Forge
10/20/24: Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
10/22/24: Moline, IL @ The Rust Belt
10/23/24: Bloomington, IL @ Castle Theater
10/24/24: Columbus, OH @ The King of Clubs*
10/25/24: Flint, MI @ Machine Shop
10/26/24: Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theater*
*No Upon A Burning Body
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