Soulfly @ HQ, Adelaide(10/09/10)

Sun 12th Sep, 2010 in Gig Reviews

CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS HERE.

It’s a terrible shame that HQ isn’t used more often as a venue for bands. The sound, lighting, and set-up are all excellent, far surpassing most medium-sized venues in Adelaide. It was the perfect setting for Soulfly’s triumphant return to our fine city, allowing a decent mosh pit, and plenty of viewing areas for the more cautious like myself.

Kicking things off were Arizona’s Incite, an energetic and highly skilled thrash metal group. While it’s fair to say most of those in attendance had no idea who they were watching, the group made the most of their time on stage. Songs off their debut album, The Slaughter, were well received, in particular Army of Darkness, and Down And Out. Guitarist Kevin “Dis” in particular was exciting to watch, not least of all for his amazing technical abilities. Richie Cavalera (yes, that Cavalera) is a good frontman but his attempts to get the crowd fired up were, in the end, unsuccessful. It’s a shame; musically Incite are a tight band and certainly fitting for the headliners. Their on-stage energy may not have been mirrored by the crowd, but one could not say they didn’t put on a good show.

Unfortunately the energy was all to disappear for the next support. Whoever decided City of Fire was a good idea, was wrong. Very wrong. Stoner rock has its place, but not at a Soulfly show, where you have a couple hundred metal dudes with long hair and unkempt beards wanting to rock out. Vocalist Burton Bell stayed glued to the centre of the stage for the entire set, with the rest of the band showing just as little enthusiasm. Gravity was one of the few songs to provoke any response from a visibly frustrated and frankly, bored audience. The fast segments of songs were too few and far between to encourage any real commitment from those watching on. At least one punter fell asleep. Finishing on Dark Tides, it wasn’t one song too soon. While City of Fire are not necessarily an untalented band, they were not suitable for this slot.

Thankfully, a blistering set from Soulfly woke everyone up. Opening with the first track from their latest album, Blood Fire War Hate, the some-what notoriously lazy band were anything but. All four members bigged up the crowd, and played with enthusiasm and exuberance. Max Cavalera may not be the most personable man, but he was treated as a god amongst men.

The diehard fans passionately sung along to the new songs from this year’s latest release, Omen, but it was the Sepultura covers that really got everybody excited. Refuse Resist, Troops of Doom, and Roots Bloody Roots were clear highlights from the hour-and-a-half set during which time guitarist Marc Rizzo threw his guitar and himself around the stage, toying with the crowd.

A drum solo mid-set saw one lucky fan pulled onto stage to drum with the mighty Max himself, before the band got right back into it with Frontlines.

Soulfly returned to the stage to play a two song encore, ending on a mash-up of Jumpdafuckup and Eye For An Eye,

By no means was this a show to end all shows, but it was what fans wanted.

CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS HERE.