Periphery, Plini, Archspire and Astronoid Pummel a Sold-Out Worcester Palladium [Photos]

Progressive metal giants Periphery just ended a cross-country jaunt that saw them playing multiple nights in major cities with varied setlists, culminating in an intimate, one-night-only performance at the historic Palladium in Worcester, MA. Along for the fun was Australian guitar virtuoso Plini, ridiculously fast technical death metal act Archspire, post-metal/shoegaze act Astronoid, and English fingerstyle guitarist Mike Dawes.

We were lucky to be there for this final show of the tour, with a sold-out crowd packing the venue to its brim. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get into the venue in time to catch Dawes, but we were told we missed out on an amazing acoustic cover of Backstreet Boys’  “I Want it That Way,” featuring Periphery frontman Spencer Sotelo.

Underrated post-metallers Astronoid were up next—they dropped their most recent album, Radiant Bloom, in June of 2022, and it was among my favorite records last year. Astronoid was not originally slated to play on this night, but Thank You Scientist had to drop from the bill. Thankfully, these Massachusetts natives were able to jump on the bill with little notice and put on a very tight set. Highlights included “Eyes” and fan-favorite “Up and Atom.”

Canadian tech-death band Archspire took things in a much heavier, much less melodic direction next with a punishing performance punctuated by hilarious moments of banter. In one such moment, the band had the crowd playing the interactive game Twister in the mosh pit, only for frontman Oli Peters to flip the spinner over to show a “WALL OF DEATH” sign written on its back—needless to say, all hell broke loose.

Peters’ rapid-fire vocal delivery was even more impressive in person, especially on tracks like “Abandon the Linear” and “Remote Tumour Seeker,” as was the jaw-dropping talent of his cohorts. Fans got to help the band celebrate their guitarist Dean Lamb’s belated birthday as bandmates presented the musician with a silly birthday hat and a “New England birthday cake” (a can of unheated clam chowder) before the final song of their set.

In another complete change of pace, Plini emerged next for an all-instrumental set of ridiculous musicianship—opening things off with “The Glass Bead Game” and “Papelillo.” Plini, full name Plini Roessler-Holgate, joked to the crowd that it was good to be in a city that he, an Australian, can pronounce, shouting “G’day Woostah!” Some of the more diehard metalheads, while somewhat taken aback at first, seemed to be with it by the middle of the set, with several deciding to crowd surf during a calm moment, including one fan dressed in a chicken onesie.

In another lighter moment, waffles shaped like Sonic the Hedgehog were dispersed to the band mid-song, to the confusion of Plini and his bandmates—allegedly made by Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor. The highlight of Plini’s face-melting set, for me, was the hit track “Handmade Cities,” which I’ve been itching to witness live for quite some time!

At last, it was time for Periphery! While many of the stops on this tour saw two nights with A/B setlists, tonight was a one-off show and it would feature a very different set from recent nights’. Their performance began with a triple-header of new tracks from their latest full-length, Periphery V: Djent is Not a Genre, “Dracul Gras,” “Wildfire,” and “Atropos.” Sotelo was incredible on this night–be it melodic or guttural, his voice sounded record-perfect through much of his range.

Throughout the set, Sotelo kept telling the audience how appreciative he and the band were for their spending this special night with them. That sentiment was echoed right back at Periphery as the fans lent their voices to each and every song and enthusiastically crowd surfed and moshed, headbanged, or just danced in place. There were so many cool moments, be it that jaw-dropping moment ~2.5 minutes into “Make Total Destroy,” when the chorus and groove come in together, or at another point in the set for “It’s Only Smiles,” when a lone Sotelo was joined by Mike Dawes for an acoustic rendition.

For a band that doesn’t tour much, Periphery were incredibly tight—guitarists Mansoor, Jake Bowen, and Mark Holcomb were locked into one another, tightly syncopated to skinsman Matt Halpern throughout. After a break to sing happy birthday to Bowen (who was turning 40) and lead a chant of “Three-cake Jake!” as the band and crew brought three birthday cakes out, Periphery continued through their set with “Prayer Position” and “The Bad Thing.”

The band closed the night out with a massive sing-along for “Satellites,” with more insane, massive vocal displays from Sotelo—and an encore performance of “Blood Eagle.” There are currently no other dates announced for the band in North America, but keep an eye out for some in 2024!

Periphery (w/ Plini, Archspire, Astronoid) @ The Palladium (Worcester, MA) on November 18, 2023

86 photos