Long-time metal fans and first-time participants came out to see Fear Factory and Machine Head at The Bellwether on February 24 for the last night of their North American tour. Expect to be ready for mosh pits, crowd surfing, and nonstop headbanging when coming to a Machine Head show. A combination of long hair, dark clothes, and “devil horns” filled the audience Saturday night as everyone settled in for the highly anticipated metal show filled with ’90s metal icons.
The last opener before the two headliners was Orbit Culture, who raised the audience’s energy with constant long-held growls and headbanging. They had the crowd open one of the first pits of the night and made a “wall of death,” splitting down the middle of the venue. They gave a lovely thank you to the Machine Head tour and crew. The stage began to be set up and the audience prepared to grab an extra round of drinks as the first headliners of the night Fear Factory were up next.
Fear Factory immediately started with high energy as a mosh pit formed in the middle of the venue. The lead singer Milo Silverstro called out “I wanna see some chaos and some brutal headbanging.” Fear Factory had an amazing crowd response when they performed one of their more popular songs ‘Fuel Injected Suicide Machine,’ the call and response of “I hate everything” alongside fists punching the air. The audience was ready and singing/screaming along with the band as they played from their discography. They played more fan-favorite songs including ‘Demanufacture,’ ‘Replica,’ and ‘Fuel Injected Suicide Machine’ which had an active mosh pit.
The crowd surfing began mid-set for Fear Factory and continued throughout the night with encouragement from the band. They ended the night with ‘Edgecrusher’ and support from surprise guest singer Brandan Schieppati from the band Bleeding Through.
It is important to wear some form of ear protection to loud events and the range of people who were and were not was noticeable. During intermission, there was a mix of people in the audience checking and touching their ears because of the dramatic change from metal music to no metal music in the venue. The audience in the venue shifted as they prepared for the final headliner of the night Machine Head.
The venue darkened, visuals and lights abound as Machine Head walked onstage. A roar could be heard through the speakers as Machine Head started and an immediate mosh pit formed at the center of the venue. Chants rang through the crowd as people roared for the band to continue. The band played a wide range of their discography including ‘Choke On The Ashes of Your Hate’ and ‘No Gods, No Masters.’
They played the song ‘Halo’ from their 2007 album The Blackening along with music from 1994 and 1999 which had the audience jumping. The band had fun as they sang their rendition of ‘The Blood, the Sweat, the Tears’ which they changed to “The Blood, the Sweat, the Beers” for the night. The band constantly encouraged the crowd surfers and ongoing mosh pits, as well as showed their appreciation and shouted out their female audience.
Machine Head took a few pauses, building suspense for the crowd. The guitar solos were both epic and beautiful. Strategic lighting and lovely almost religious visuals that included stained glass windows and angels were constantly met with enthusiasm. They ended the night with a big thank you to the other bands and the crew for supporting them as they ended their last show for their Slaughter the Martøur Nørth American tour.
Fear Factory
Machine Head
All photos by Brandy Hornback
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