Meshuggah / Baroness @ The Palladium

May 19, 2012.  I just returned from Worcester, wired from Meshuggah's intense and lengthy set.  I could have done without so much man sweat everywhere, but it was worth it to see all of the headbanging stop and start again every 3 to 10 seconds when the band would change time signatures.  They stuck with mostly newer material but dug as far back as Chaosphere and even Destroy Erase Improve.  To say their performance was tight is like saying the ocean is a bit wet...and although there wasn't much movement on stage apart from Jens Kidman's robot zombie gorilla gesturing, the stage art and lights kept onlookers well entertained.  Tomas Haake's percussive precision had my eyes fixed for much of their set.

Baroness played a well-varied set including a couple of new songs from the forthcoming Yellow & Green.   Despite the lackluster bass-trap sound of the Palladium they were great - vocal harmonies and twin guitar licks were beautifully executed.  It was very cool to see them on this bill between Poland's Decapitated and Sweden's Meshuggah: a break from the brutality to lay down some serious rock and roll.  The crowd responded by dissolving the pit and opting for copious amounts of crowd surfing.

I was hoping to pick up a vinyl copy of Koloss, but Meshuggah had very little music to offer at the merch table - only a couple of CD's and no vinyl at all.  I was happily consoled by 5th represses of both Red Album and Blue Record.  Sure, 5th repress doesn't sound special, but it is.  They're high-grade 45rpm double vinyl editions, limited to ~1000 (Red Album) and ~500 (Blue Record) copies in 2011.  These editions where the ones in my wish list; look at them...gorgeous!