On December 29, 2018, Mushroomhead returned to The Agora’s stage with a twist on the holiday season. With a whopping five openers and a stage set up with water drums, snow machines and elaborate costumes, Mushroomhead set the stage for a Krampus Christmas.
Following up WRETCH’s set was The Killing of June. At first, the band seemed a little hesitant, but warmed up by the end of their set to a cheering crowd. Vocalist Tedy Butte was fantastic at involving the audience, and at one point even had everyone raise their glasses: “Who’s got beers in their hands? Let’s get ‘em up, we’re celebrating right? We’re celebrating Christmas…” Audience involvement aside, the visceral metal band had a tight, flowing set that got the crowd head-banging.
Heavyweight HC made quite the entrance with vocalist CHUBBZ entering stage left with his daughter on Facetime. He spent the first song reveling in the moment with his daughter, the band, the crowd— even blowing her a kiss near the end of the call. Later on in the show, CHUBBZ also invited kids from the crowd on stage to rock with the band, even giving them a drum to play along on. The band went on a thirteen-year hiatus, and has been back in the scene since 2014, and have obviously kept up with their craft. The set was full of energy, however, the singer carried the momentum of the set. The rest of the members seemed fairly stiff, with moments of movement. That aside, they are all very talented musically and that definitely showed during their performance.
The follow-up four-piece, Bittersweet Revenge, is a Cleveland based band with a grungy-metal sound that was met with major moshing in their Agora performance. Their recent album “Untrustworthy” was heavily featured in their set, and everyone in the band completely let loose all over the stage (even at one point inviting a Santa and rocking t-rex on stage). With a good mix of hard vocals and screaming, their set had head-banging songs that were perfect for getting a crowd pumped up and moving. The band literally “rocked till they dropped” as the singer, Marc Kourcklas, was joined by the dancing Santa and t-rex as they all collapsed together at the end of the set surrounded by a screaming crowd filling the theatre.
The final opener of the night, Axioma, was the heaviest of the evening. The death metal, Cleveland band used minimal lights on stage, focusing on their faces with colored light, which set the mood for the heavier, darker music of the evening. The crowd was pretty split on it—some really lost it during their set and some seemed less interested. Weather you are a fan of death metal and dark sound or not, the band had undeniable energy and connection on stage, which I always appreciate. I myself am not a death metal fan, but I appreciated their concise set and complex musicality of their songs.
Mushroomhead, obviously, completely stole the hearts of the crowd as they entered the stage in all Krampus-themed attire. For those who aren’t aware of the German-derived holiday figure, unlike our dear old Saint Nick who we know as the kind, giving soul of Christmas, Krampus is the half-goat, half-demon punisher of the misbehaved in central European folklore. With a snow machine going the entire time, and extremely elaborate, heavy costumes to fit the theme, you almost forgot you were at a show—the performance felt like watching pure theatre.
The Cleveland natives’ energy was insane, they had the entire crowd spanning generations screaming along, and they truly added their own creative, festive twist to Christmas. If you ever have the chance to see Mushroomhead live, do not hesitate. You will be in for a really unique performance.
Review by Devon Keller, RockRevolt Writer and Photographer
Edited by Alex Couts, Rockrevolt Guest Staff
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