Photos/Review: Mega-Monsters Tour erupts at Coney Island w/ Gojira & Mastodon

Featuring Gojira, Mastodon, and Special Guest Lorna Shore. With an explosive lineup of bands, the second leg of the Mega-Monsters Tour landed on the famous boardwalk of Coney Island on August 12th. The battlegrounds, the Ford Amphitheater. Taking to their social media page earlier in the day, Mastodon would announce that the show that evening was Sold Out. This only fueled my anticipation for the show even more than it had already been. With two behemoths, Mastodon and Gojira, along with special guest Lorna Shore, this would be a jam-packed night of pure intensity. Making the trek out to Coney Island for the first time this year, I forgot exactly how long of a haul it truly was on the subway. It’s already a warm day. As I made my way down the boardwalk to the amphitheater, it began to heat up even more as the show was already underway. The Sold Out crowd was still trickling in as New Jersey’s deathcore act Lorna Shore was already heating things on stage. Once inside, I was surprised that the venue was packed with fans. Considering the early start time and the point of destination. Even with only a 30-minute set, I could still catch their set maybe a little less than mid-way. I’ll be sincere here: I’m not a deathcore fan. This is not taking anything away from any of the bands in this genre; it’s just not my thing. Musically speaking, from what I was able to catch from Lorna Shore, they put on a powerful show with plenty of energy behind it. The piercing screams and guttural growls from frontman Will Ramos pack a hell of a punch. Their set seemed well received by the crowd, who were already frothing at the mouth, hungry and anxious to see who out of the co-headliners would be taking the stage next.

Setlist:

01) Sun/Eater

02) Cursed to Die

03) Into the Earth

04) Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames

05) Pain Remains II: After All I’ve Done

06) Pain Remains III: In a Sea of Fire

Once the stage crew rolled out the drum stand on stage, it was clear by the drum kit that was coming on next, and at that point, roars from the crowd began to emerge. It wasn’t until the curtain with the giant Mastodon logo was accidentally dropped, thinking it was time, that the crowd cheers became intense. Immediately raising the curtain back up, it was clear it wasn’t time just yet. When Mastodon took the stage, they were met by a thunderous roar from their fans that could be felt rumbling down the boardwalk to the Cyclone (the famous rollercoaster at Coney Island.) Mastodon’s stage was set with LED screens covering the entire stage at damn near every angle. From the giant backdrop screen to the drum and keyboard risers, even long rectangles met in “V’s” above the stage between the lighting rigs. These screens displayed incredible bright and vibrant imagery, some psychedelic-like, others with a more trippy monster-esc vibe to completely bring their music to you in an incredible visual experience. To enhance the already amazing visuals displayed on the screens, Mastodon’s lighting was top-notch, and we can’t forget about the pyro. They truly did not hold any punches back. Now, we can’t forget about the main thing here: the music! Mastodon played a powerful 17-song set that spanned their entire catalog from 2002 Remission to their most recent albums, Hushed and Grim. This set was designed to give every Mastodon fan a bit of everything, and that’s what they did. Opening their set just as their 2006 release Blood Mountain does, it was “The Wolf is Loose” followed right behind it with “Crystal Skull.” Right out of the gate, you could see that Brent Hinds was experiencing some technical issues with his stage monitors, but that didn’t slow him down or even affect the sound. With all that was going on already with the visuals and the band pounding so hard, I believe that, most likely, not too many people even noticed Brent making gestures at his tech on the side of the stage. Mastodon was simply flawless! They pounded song for song. There was even an appearance by their mighty one-eyed purple Kaiju mascot to complete the visual experience truly. Mastodon would go on to close out their set with the heavy fan favorite “Blood and Thunder.” Whether or not you want to stick Mastodon in one of these silly little metal sub-genres, the bottom line is Mastodon is purely Heavy F**king Metal.

Setlist:

01) The Wolf Is Loose

02) Crystal Skull

03) Megalodon

04) Divinations

05) Andromeda

06) Sultan’s Curse

07) Fallen Torches

08) Pushing the Tides

09) More Than I Could Chew

10) Aqua Dementia

11) Steambreather

12) Iron Tusk

13) March of the Fire Ants

14) Mother Puncher

15) Circle of Cysquatch

16) Crusher Destroyer

17) Blood and Thunder

Mastodon

The stage was filled with smoke from the smog machines, and the chants of “Gojira” “Gojira” could be heard always down Surf Ave. Through the monitors, sounds of whales could be heard as what appeared to be the eye of an underwater mammal on the giant LED screen in the backdrop, and of course, that would only lead to Gojira opening their set with “Ocean Planet.” Seriously! It’s a fitting way for Gojira to open their set as they play off the Atlantic Ocean. At the song’s end, the fans were greeted with a confetti blast; that was it! This party was truly underway, but it didn’t just end there. Like Mastodon, Gojira’s stage was set with the same LEDs throughout the stage that tonally blasted soft colors against the incredibly bright and vibrant stage lighting displayed throughout their set, along with LOTS OF PYRO!!! Gojira lit the stage on fire that night! In Japanese, Gojira means Godzilla, and that’s just what this French quartet is: a giant powerhouse of a beast. From when I first saw Gojira as an opening act for Slayer in 2014 to now, seeing how far this band has grown into the well-oiled metal machine of technical precision and has the same lineup of band members for the last 25 years speaks volumes. Gojira, hands down, is a band to see live. They go out there and play with their hearts, which can undoubtedly be heard through the passion within their songs. Gojira can also make you at just the right moment as well. Immediately following “The Art of Dying” comes Mario Duplantier’s drum solo; as if the crowd wasn’t already fired up and loud for this, Duplantier cuts in the middle stands and raises his hands to heighten the crowd’s energy; the crowd lets out a roar, he then turns and grabs a sign to hold up that reads “I Can’t Hear You,” as fans laugh, he once again throws his hand up in which the crowd returns a tumultuous roar, we then see Duplantier grab another sign that read “Fuck Yeah” which of coarse the entire crowd loved and only began cheering louder as he finished his drum solo. One of the most significant moments of their set that stood out to me was at the end of their set, right before the encore. It was their anthematic son, “The Chant.” With the crowd all singing along in harmony with the band, the connection you felt between the fan and the band made the song more meaningful. It brought the entire crowd together in a way you just can’t describe with words and can only be expressed by witnessing it live and in person. Gojira would end their monstrous set with an encore of “The Gift of Guilt.” If you have yet to see Gojira live, you truly must. This is not a band to be missed live. This is not a tour to be missed.

Setlist:

01) Ocean Planet

02) Backbone

03) Stranded

04) Flying Whales

05) The Cell

06) The Art of Dying

07) Drum Solo

08) Grind

09) Another World

10) Silvera

11) Amazonia