Mastodon @ Brixton Academy (London, UK) on November 28, 2014 [Show Review]

Tonight’s bill involves three bands at three very different points in their respective careers. You have Mastodon, the influential legends, Big Business, the underground heroes and Krokodil, the newcomers who, despite quite a lot of hype surrounding them, failed to deliver the goods tonight. The same cannot be said of Big Business who put on a storming show, sadly though there seemed to be very few people there who knew their material.

That was obviously not a problem for Mastodon as the moment “Tread Lightly” hits to the second “Blood And Thunder” finishes, the capacity crowd sings along to every word. Mastodon have often been criticised for not acknowledging and interacting with the crowd and tonight is no different, but in truth, it’s refreshing to see a band get up on stage and just play, and it’s doubtful you would get an eighteen song set if they are talking in between every track.

It’s clear that they are enjoying themselves up there and the fans don’t seem to mind the lack of talking. For a group the size that Mastodon are, there’s no fuss about them, there’s no stage show, in fact they barely use the whole of the stage. There’s very few fancy lights, there’s not even an encore, but what there is is one and half hours of some of the finest metal from one of today’s most influential bands, and that is always a good thing!

Check out the song “High Road”