Live Report - High on Fire and Torche
Metal Reviews

Release year: 0
Reviewed by Steve

A healthy, diverse crowd got their money’s worth at Headliners Music Hall in Louisville, Kentucky last Thursday, July 29th as an upbeat Torche and an intense High on Fire both delivered outstanding sets. Headliners may very well be the best place within a two hundred mile radius to see live music. The venue is a repurposed industrial building situated in a mixed-use part of town which offers the distinct advantage of ample free parking. Drink prices are reasonable and patrons are allowed to exit the building and return at their conveniece, whether it be for a quick smoke break or a bite to eat at the Spring Street Bar and Grille just two blocks away. The club also does a good job regulating atmospheric conditions, never making one as uncomfortable as places like the Mad Hatter in Covington, KY and Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH are wont to do. Headliners also books most major metal tours in the states with tours upcoming this year including those headlined by Soilwork, Devildriver, Bleeding Through, Nevermore, Nile, and Epica.

High on Fire tore through songs from several of their five full-lengths. Devilution, How Dark We Pray, Rumors of War, Hung, Drawn & Quartered, Fire, Flood & Plague, Snakes for the Divine, and Bastard Samurai all made contributions to a truly rocking set. Perspiration erupted without cease from a shirtless Matt Pike who more often than not had a foot up on a monitor and leaned back to share his fretwork with an enthusiastic crowd. Pike’s vocals sound pinched and pained on recordings and that is how they come across live as well. He doesn’t so much sing as grimace and grit while sounds come out. It’s not hard to find a critic who would label these strained emissions the weakest link in the High on Fire chain, but at this point they’ve taken on a life of their own and are as crucial a part of the band’s sound as any riff will ever be. There are also those who would malign High on Fire as “hipster metal,” and while it’s true there were a few Midwest hipster wannabees in attendance, it’s hard to take that stereotype too seriously when one is confronted by an array of T-shirts sporting band names like Mercyful Fate, Obituary, and Exodus.

The hipster tag might have a little more credibility in application to the bald-heads of Torche but when guitarist/vocalist Steve Brooks plays the whole show clad in a Bolt Thrower tee and shows no intention of irony, one begins to wonder whether the hipsters alleged to have been recently corrupting metal were ever more than a straw man set up to be knocked down by various internet trolls and basement-dwelling elitists. The crowd was plenty rowdy at times – a tangle of bodies approximating a pit materialized here and there, fists were raised, and horns went up, but the vibe was an extremely positive one. Torche bounced around and banged heads throughout. Drummer Rick Smith was smiling for the duration; only briefly interrupted by the need to have a cinder block fetched from the parking lot to hold the kick drum in place. How much do you have to love making music to be smiling on stage mere weeks after being robbed of thousands of dollars of gear – much of it one-off stuff that cannot be easily replaced? A shit-ton, and Torche clearly have that in their hearts. No phoning it in for these guys. They were obviously stoked to be playing and the show-goers fed on their energy. The band members could be spotted across the club floor throughout High on Fire’s set – these guys are as genuine as a fan could want.

A round trip of 290 miles might seem like a lot for a Thursday night show, but recent personal events have put my Summer Slaughter in Cincinnati plans in jeopardy and while I admit to being completely exhausted all day Friday, the show was worth of every bit of effort it took to get there and back. Besides, what else am I supposed to do? Sit around and watch fucking T.V.?

Killing Songs :
Steve quoted
Other albums by Live Report that we have reviewed:
Live Report - Marduk / Vader - United Titans Tour 2022 - 17th March 2022 - Rebellion, Manchester, UK reviewed by Goat and quoted
Live Report - Genesis - The Last Domino? Tour - 25 September 2021 - AO Arena, Manchester, UK reviewed by Goat and quoted
Live Report - Mgla, Lvcifyre, Wode - 15th March 2019 - Rebellion, Manchester, UK reviewed by Goat and quoted
Live Report - Pestilence, Grimaze, Damim, Cryptic Shift - 23rd February 2019 - Rebellion, Manchester, UK reviewed by Goat and quoted
Live Report - King Crimson - Uncertain Times Tour - 9th November 2018 - Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK reviewed by Goat and quoted
To see all 89 reviews click here
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There are 3 replies to this review. Last one on Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:33 am
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