Photos and Review by Sarah Smith
Galleries: Mastodon, Eagles of Death Metal
I finally stepped foot back in Portland’s lovely State Theatre for yet another fun mid week show. After a couple of necessary beers during the opener’s set, Russian Circles, I was ready to jam out to the bands that brought me to the State to begin with. Russian Circles was a fun band with instrumentals that rode along the metal line, which I didn’t expect to enjoy but I was into it.
Eagles of Death Metal took stage following, what I love about these guys is the fact they sound nothing like Death Metal. Rather they are just a band that takes the stage and knows how to make everyone in the room feel good about being alive. They opened with I Only Want You, which is to be expected, and moved right along into I Came to Make a Bang and my absolute favorite, Silverlake. Jesse Hughes loves his audience, and owns the stage. It’s fun watching him shake it across stage behind his red sunglasses, occasionally blowing kisses towards his people. EoDM will always have the Paris tragedy attached to their names, but it’s so heartwarming to see them back on stage; for their fans and more importantly for themselves.
Following EoDM was the all mighty Mastodon. This was my first time ever seeing them and it certainly will not be my last. I enjoyed these guys all the way through. The lighting went from simple to an intense hellish atmosphere to match with their dark metal theme. They played a lot of earlier w4ork but stuck mostly to songs off their freshest album Emperor of the Sand. I must admit seeing these guys play with EoDM was a real trip. They are so different, but they had such a strong audience. Even though it may seem impossible to love both these bands equally in a live show, everyone in the crowd had a great time with each. That was obvious.
Mastodon and Eagles of Death Metal at the State Theatre – Portland, ME
