The Brady Theater is the second best venue in Oklahoma (right behind Cain’s Ballroom). Having already seen Tom Waits at the Brady, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go back and see Brendon Small’s Deathklok!

When I found out that Mastodon, Converge AND High on Fire were going to perform on the same night at the same show? Well, lets just say i needed to change my underwear.

Doors opened at 6 so Erin, Shane and I got there at 6:30. Parking was fine but the will call line was 15 minutes long… 500 feet away from the actual theater and I hear High on Fire’s Waste of Tiamat nearly tearing the place down. Needless to say I was not very happy about the line at will call. Once we got seated, High on Fire played a few more song and were done. We should have arrived earlier, lesson learned.

High on Fire on stage, and on my new t-shirt.

Speaking of seating, the thing I love about the Brady Theater is the seating. It undoubtedly has to do with my old age, but I love watching shows from the balcony. Granted, I felt slightly un-metal watching a metal show from the balcony, but at least I saw the show.

Converge took the stage next and I was pleasantly surprised by their energy. Liz let me have* Jane Doe by Converge, and while i appreciate their powerful, sometimes awkwardly timed tunes, im not really a fan of the vocal delivery. BUT i loved the way Jacob Bannon commanded the stage. It was pure Iggy.

Mastodon was next. Of course, they destroyed. I saw them on their tour for Blood Mountain and they were awesome, but this time they up’d the ante. There was a huge video screen which showed kitschy horror films inspired by Satan mashed-up with Mastodons album cover graphics. It was very tool-esque. Mastodon played their newest release, Crack the Skye, from cover to cover. It was amazing. For their encore, they played one song from each of their previous albums going back in chronological order and the on screen graphics changed depending on the album. The Devil is indeed in the details.

The Mighty Mastodon

Deathklok wrapped up the night with a blistering hour and a half set. The video screen showed parts of the Metalocolypse T.V. series and some songs even synced up with the live music. It was cool to look up at the screen and see the Nathan Explosion growling while hearing the songs played live.

Great night from the balcony. I love you Metal.

-mario

*by “have” I mean: Let me listen to and gave me a great recommendation on where to purchase the album so the record company was able to get its money.