L’Enfant Sauvage Tour feat. Gojira – REVIEW

The ultimate metal tour of the season featuring Gojira, Devin Townsend Project and The Atlas Moth came through Chicago recently at the House of Blues and we were there to see all of the action. You can check out our review after the break.

To say that this was the hottest metal tour of the winter of 2013 is an understatement. The line up put together for this tour can be deemed as ‘safe’, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Hometown openers The Atlas Moth got off to a sludgy start displaying their brand of Neurosis-like stoner metal jams. This is the type of music that’ll put your mind and thoughts in a rational gaze. The volume on the vocals was a little low but I do believe that must’ve been their intention for the trippy effects to shine through on the guitars. It was the equivalent of being tripped out from seeing Phish or Frank Zappa, but instead for heavy music. The performance was a tad bit underwhelming, but the music on hand has strong delivery and I strongly believe in time both the performance and music will age gracefully like fine wine.

Metal’s iconic madman Devin Townsend got things really kicking as soon as his band got on stage. Devy and friends drew heavily from last year’s Epicloud, their poppy/rock/metal/out-of-this-world hybrid. For the bands current hit ‘Lucky Animals’ Devin required that everyone do jazz hands for the chorus. Yes, that means even the guy with his arms folded wearing a Skeletonwitch shirt was called out to do jazz hands as well! Only the mad genius that is Townsend would break from the norm and ask that a crowd deliver an ‘oval pit’ and not the traditional circle pit. Well I’ll be damned, the crowd listened and followed through with these bizarre commands that only he could get them to do. My personal highlight was ‘Planet Of The Apes’ from the Deconstruction album. Hearing a masterpiece of a song put to live format was as epic as any music you would’ve heard from the Star Wars saga. Don’t believe me?! Just put on Deconstruction and listen to it front to back and try telling me different! But seriously, Devin is the ultimate spectacle of comedy and music and I have said it before on a previous review and I’ll say it again do not think twice about missing his show! See him every chance you get!

Gojira. Bar none, the HEAVIEST band these ears have ever heard live! Quote me on that one now. Their technique is heavier than a 10 ton whale and crushes harder than Goliath collapsing to his death. Who would’ve thought the heaviest band ever would hail from France?! Well, BELIEVE IT NOW! This is the real deal. Even Metallica, one of the biggest bands in all of music is singing their praises. Still not convinced?! Well then get yourself out to a show and be ready to have your life changed! Their wave of sound is the type that will literally go through your body and you will feel it and before you know it, you have goosebumps all over your arms. Drummer Mario Duplantier is a master of his arts when it comes to drumming. His honor of Metalsucks.net’s ‘Top metal drummer of the 21st century’ is well proven every single second tonight. This isn’t me being biased. It’s just years of hard work paying off! Only a band so heavy like this can get away with writing music about saving whales and the results are stellar! Vocalist/guitarist Joe Duplantier. Bassist Jean-Michel Labadie, and guitarist Christian Andreu have a stage presence so commanding and natural without trying too hard at being all over the place for being all over the place. 10 minute epic ‘The Art Of Dying’ captured a rare moment in time no YouTube video of the highest quality can do justice to unless you were actually there! From the opening Sepultura like tribal beat to the astral heaviness it progresses into, your body is moved and you and the whole crowd are one in a translation that only this demanding live setting can give. From the opening scorcher of the appropriately titled kickoff ‘Explosia’ to the trippy kick off of closer ‘The Gift Of Guilt’, these 4 frenchmen had a heavy message to convey with their body of music and it only looks like awareness is raising at a skyrocketing rate for these fine gentlemen. To simply put, if you have not seen Gojira live, you have not lived! Even if your not a fan or unfamiliar with what they offer to the table, their live show is an excellent launch pad.  Plus, you have excellent support bands so no matter what youg et your money’s worth. What are you waiting for?! THIS TOUR ONLY COMES AROUND ONCE IN OUR LIFETIME SO HUSTLE UP!

Information about the review…
Tour: L’Enfant Sauvage Tour feat. Gojira
Band: Gojira, Devin Townsend Project, The Atlas Moth
Reviewer: Nicholas Wier
Date: February 11, 2013
Venue: House Of Blues in Chicago, IL