Live : MASTODON – Cork (2015) Posted: 02/07/2015 by John O'Brien

The dreary June rain certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of those who packed out The Savoy in Cork for Tom Keating’s latest gig rock event on Saturday, June 27th. Heavy rock and metal fans came out in droves to bare witness to American heavyweights MASTODON return to Cork. Arriving into the venue, I am greeted by a sea of MASTODON t-shirts and a palpable excitement which was infectious and great to see for such a large gig of this type in Cork. So I enthusiastically make my way down to watch the tours support band.

Hailing from Stevenage, England, BAD BREEDING are a punk band getting lots of attention across the pond. And all for the right reasons. The only real downside was that the early starting time meant the vast majority didn’t get to see them at all. But it certainly didn’t deter them from putting on a good show, as their performance was energetic enough to keep the waiting MASTODON fans well sated until their heroes are ready to take the stage.

Coming up to 9pm there is a tangible impatience and the crowd begin to roar for the MASTODON to take the stage.  And they do shortly after 9pm. Opening with ‘Tread Lightly’, the opening track from their latest album “Once More Round The Sun”. The sound is a little ‘iffy’ but nonetheless they hammer it out , much to the crowds delight. By the time the albums title track ‘Once More Round The Sun’ begins, a pit has formed directly in front of the stage. This is immediately monitored closely by the security staff who make it quite obvious from the outset that they are not going to tolerate too much fun from obviously enthusiastic crowd! The band however just put their head down and basically play non-stop without much of a break at all for the first hour.

‘Blasteroid’, ‘Oblivion’ and ‘The Motherload’ follow on with some good interaction with the crowd from Troy Sanders in particular. While the songs are blasted out, there is an ever increasing mosh pit which results in a few of the revellers being escorted out by security. A pretty harsh over reaction to say the least, I thought. And an issue that will seriously need to be addressed for any future gigs of this type in one of Cork’s best live venues.

Covering a fair chunk of their latest album, they also throw in a few oldies  including ‘Ole Nessie’ from “Remission”and ‘Crystal Skull’ from “Blood Mountain”. Overall there is a really good selection of songs with the band cover parts from nearly all of their back catalogue. But the real highlight of the night was when they finished off their set with the THIN LIZZY classic, ‘Emerald’, which the band covered as a “Remission” bonus track over a decade ago. The crowd go wild as the familiar Lizzy riffs pour out of the house PA and it is genuinely a pity that this is the last song of the night, as everyone calls for more.

This gig certainly exceeded all my expectations. Especially from the point of view of the band themselves and how they fed off the energy of the crowd. They seemed to be geniunely shocked by the reception the got and appeared very humbled and appreciative. To quoting Brent, ‘Dublin really needs to up their game ‘. And to see so many rock and metal fans out in such force here in Cork was truly great to see.

Come back again lads!
Cork obviously loves you.!

Review by Michelle Rumley

Photos by Shane J. Horan