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Having not seen Mudvayne since they opened for Kittie in 2000. They blew Kittie off the stage that night, and I bought their first album the next day. I had a curious optimism about the band, but the addition of Gwar to this tour's line-up is what sealed the deal for me. Granted outdoor concerts in July are not ideal in Florida. Despite the hype "nu-metal" is getting about it's second coming as "nu-core" the lawn was closed and only half of the 10,000 seats were filled. I caught the last two Butcher Babies songs. I like the new albums , and they were very professional , though one of their singers was wearing jeans on stage, which seemed overdressed in the heat , when she used to just wear duct tape on stage.
Next up was Non-Point, I am always willing to give this guys a chance, never seen them before. They had a great deal of energy. but all there songs began to sound the same half way into their set. Then Gwar who I saw several times going back to 1990 when I saw them with Murphy's Law. This was my first time seeing them since Dave Brockie's death. I enjoy the Blothar album's I think they do justice to the band's legacy. I have never seen Gwar playing anywhere larger than a club, so the Amphitheater at even half capacity was weird as well as seeing them trudge out on stage during the day in costume. The stage show was dialed back due to limited back line. If this has been the band at the height of their Scumdogs fury , they would have blown every one off the stage, but we got what we got and it was entertaining. The crowd was a mixed bag of people old enough to have seen Gwar in their hey day, and younger kids in their twenties who might have not had much of a clue about them. The victims continue to change with the time as Vladimir Putin and an AI Chat GPT bot as the victims of the day. I can say in Blothar's defense, Oderus could not pull an AC/DC cover. I think Gwar could stand to thrown in a few more classics.
Coal Chamber turned out to be the surprise of the show. I don't recall seeing them back in the day but they could have been playing the side stage on an Ozzfest back in the day and I might not remember. I was really only into the first album .When "Chamber Music" came out , I was into heavier music, I should go back and give it another listen. The two albums that followed came out off my radar and without me caring. I think what was most compelling about Coal Chamber is how they fell back into their roles , like they were picking up where they left off without missing a beat. Energy wise, and how they pulled everything off , they made the best showing of the night. Granted the bar was never set very high for them ,as their stuff is easy to play and not very demanding vocally. At 57 you never felt like his age was making him struggle at what he did. The songs you know... "Loco", "Big Truck" etc...hit with the kind of impact you would want them to.
Muudvayne's strengths as a band seemed to play against them at time. It is hard to tell if the crowd could tell. Things felt off when they hit the stage with "Not Falling" . It felt like Gray could have uses another song to warm up with. The smoothly sung verses suffered because of this and the higher passes into falsetto felt choked. This carried over four songs later when they went into "World So Cold" and the struggle still could be felt when they covered the Police's "King of Pain", despite doing their own version of it. The only three songs I was not as familiar with were from "New Game". I like the Shining inspired "Dull Boy" the best of the selections from that album. The addition of the second guitarist worked sonically though I think bassist Ryan Martinie could have been louder in the mix in order for their sound to have the kind of impact it achieves online. Their set did have strong moments in some of the more progressive jams, and Gray's screams were on point, despite his actual singing making his voice feel a little out of shape. I was inspired to give "the New Game" another chance , but doubtful I would spend money to see these guys again.
