Report

Was Day One Of Mystic The Busiest And The Best?

I mentioned in the Mystic Festival Warm Up Day Road Report that the official first day of the festival would be the most hectic for me. The tally consisted of twelve band sets and a visit to the Vader band exhibition (which was very cool!). I’m not going to touch on every band I saw, but I’ll pick my top 5 bands this day for me. If you’re curious of who else played, you can check them out in the photo gallery HERE!

I also mentioned the possibility of the weather not cooperating, and again, it didn’t. There were some periods of downpours and light rain here and there so because of this, I could only catch one or two songs max of some of the bands. It was a day where rain jackets and ponchos were high fashion and the indoor areas of the festival grounds were much more than a welcome sight and a convenience.

I wasn’t a fan of the day’s headlining act, but because they were given that honor, I feel obliged to write at least something about them. Being a headliner at a festival usually means you have something special planned or a stage show that makes just about every band that played before you somewhat forgettable. I didn’t see any of this. They’re great at what they do, which is sort of this power and progressive metal band that skirts the line of both genres. I can say this without prejudice: The vocalist, Anders Fridén, is very characteristic and can command a large audience with ease. Chris Broderick, one of the guitarists, was in Megadeth for a minute. Björn Gelotte, the lead guitarist, has been in the band since its inception along with Anders.

I’ve been told that In Flames was a lot heavier during its formative years and I’m not surprised. I didn’t listen to them back then, so I have no opinion regarding how heavy they used to be. I do admit, the light show was pretty cool during my abbreviated time watching their set. Most of the material they played came from the album, “Foregone,” which was released in 2023 and is their 14th studio album. So, there you go. That’s all I’m going to write about them and it’s been too much already.

Anders Fridén of In Flames

Suicidal Tendencies is a band that actually made an impression on me on this day. They are a band that needs no introduction unless you stumbled on this report by accident while researching dark and depressing subject matter. And unlike the subject matter, their live shows are guaranteed to leave you with happy thoughts and warm fuzzies.

When Suicidal Tendencies first came on stage, I wondered who the teenager was jumping around on the bass? Then it hit me like a skateboard deck against the head, that’s Robert Trujillo’s son! It’s been a minute since I’ve seen them and I remember reading about this a while back. He was all over the stage…in fact, they all were! I had forgotten how spastic their stage antics were. I was in the photo pit and I learned quickly that you just need to hold your ground and eventually the shot will come to you. Don’t chase the members around, you’ll only lose shot chances.

They opened their set with “You Can’t Bring Me Down” and in my head I heard “The Rain Can’t Bring Me Down” instead. At least it was dry during their time on stage. Mike Muir kept egging on the crowd to keep the mosh pit moving. The actual pit area was a mud bog only rivaled by The Redneck Yacht Club by the time band had finished. The coolest thing I saw throughout the festival happened during their set. During the song, “I Saw Your Mommy,” a gaggle of teenagers were let up on stage to help sing the song. They were jumping and headbanging along with the band. Even if you don’t for the music, you have to love this band for stuff like this.

Suicidal Tendencies

Elder is one of those band that you either love them or you can’t stand them. One thing you just can’t argue about is how talented they are. In fact, they might have been the most talented musicians at this year’s festival. If you’re not familiar with them, they are known for their very progressive style of metal. I’ve always likened them to a metalized version of King Crimson. The are definitely a musicians’ band but they also appeal to your casual metal fan. The band Tool even had Elder open up for them during their 2024 tour.

It was raining throughout the majority of Elder’s set, but the Desert Stage area remained packed with onlookers the whole time. They played flawlessly. How do I know that? Well, I’m a huge fan and I would easily have noticed if there was a flub or blunder. Elder had a reduced setlist consisting of only the songs “Compendium,” “Sanctuary,” “Dead Roots Stirring,” “Deadweight,” and “Halcyon.” I kid about the “only” description because if you know anything about the band, their songs run on average more than 10 minutes long. I didn’t stay for the whole set because my camera bag and gear was getting soaked after one song into it. I made my way to confines of the food court area to dry off and plot my next moves.

Elder More...

Read more...  |  0 Comments - Discuss