Adult Swim Tour: High on Fire @ Wamu Theater (10-3-09)

I was more than fired up to see High on Fire again as part of the metal spectacle at Wamu Theater last Saturday. The Adult Swim Tour also included Boston’s Converge, the almighty Mastodon, and surprise (to me) headliner Metalocalypse’s cartoon band turned real live band Dethklok; though I should have put it together knowing full well who the sponsor was. What a fucking lineup! 3 of the 4 bands top the list of my favorite bands of the last 5 years. This was my 4th time hearing Matt Pike and company crush eardrums in a live setting. The first time was at El Corazon in 2005 with YOB and Akimbo as openers, and the last time may have been the last show I ever saw at the old Crocodile Cafe back in October 2007. They played with Mono, Panthers, and a band that floored me that night-- Coliseum. High on Fire destroyed the old Crocodile Cafe, while all the fake animals shook from the ceiling. They also didn’t disappoint on Saturday either, but you know who did? The dumb motherfucker who decided it was a good idea to give the band only 30 minutes. I mean what a bunch of BS, they only played 6 songs. 6 fucking songs and done. What a travesty, and it’s not like the crowd was happy about it either. Even with the multitude of metal-lite loving adult swim brain washed youngsters in the attendance, the consensus was we wanted more. I’m glad HOF are involved with such a stellar high profile tour but they deserve better. On the bright side there is always the chance that the young Dethklok crowd picked up on the greatness that is Matt Pike, and one can only hope that they went home that night googled Matt Pike and discovered Sleep after being blown away by such hellfire.

Despite the shorter than short stage time High on Fire was allotted, they made the best of it. Pike absolutely shredded “Turk”, “Cometh Down the Hessian”, “Rumors of War”, “Blood From Zion”, and a mind-blowing version of “Fury Whip”. How 3 dudes are able to conjure up that much deafening racket is beyond me. Matt Pike has his amps turned up so high he doesn’t even have to strum his 9 string Les Paul between massive power chords. The rhythm section Jeff Matz and Des Kensel are equally punishing, but Des on drums is especially brilliant and a blast to watch. With a new record scheduled for release in 2010 sometime, I’m sure High on Fire will be back to Seattle and will play a more fitting venue with a lengthier set that actually gives credit to the band's brilliance. Check out a video I took of "Turk"-- video good, audio decimated. Cheers!