Dethklok Live
Last night the boys and I went to Hollywood to see Dethklok and Mastodon play at the Palladium. It was an absolutely rocking show to say the least.
Believe it or not but Los Angeles has a working public transit system! I know, you're all calling bullshit on this one but it's for real, the system was even complete enough to get us from my house to within a block of the Palladium with only one transfer. Given that no one was driving we met at my house to preparty a bit then hopped the Silver Streak to Union station, from there we took the red line to Hollywood and Vine.
The subway was fun, we met at least three transvestites and were left with the golden advice of a bum "Don't get arrested". From there we hit Dillon's Irish pub and then walked the block and a half to the venue.
The Palladium itself is an excellent place to see a metal show. The acoustics are good enough to keep the music from getting muddy and their sound guy knows how to keep the volume cranked without being ear splitting. It was general admission only with no seating but the balconies were open for people that prefer not to pile in the pit. There were at least six full bars in the place so beer lines were nonexistent.
We arrived just in time to see the beginning of Mastodon's set. They sounded excellent but had little stage presence and their complicated polyrhythmic beats made it hard to headbang. It kind of reminded me of when we saw Dream Theater.
Dethklok sounded just like their albums, Brendon Small has done an excellent job of putting together a road band. Unlike I saw in some of the YouTube videos they didn't play much of the Adult Swim characters between sets. Chris got beat up pretty good in the pit and ended up getting jacked for his phone and wallet. I managed to clobber my way to the front row about four people from center by the third song as seen in the photo.
For only $35 and combined with the convenience of public transit seeing Dethklok live was a ridiculously good time.
