Musically Chen Mo isn’t very original. Almost every song makes me wonder which band it reminds me of. Most of the time it’s Linkin’ Park by the way. If this band practice hard for a year, do as many shows as possible and try to create their own sound, their own idiom, they can get somewhere. Right now they fall into the category ‘promising’.

Machine Head
Rob Flynn and his companions are relaxed and having fun. This relatively small tour clearly is about having a good time. I prefer that to the sometimes a bit too macho attitude Machine Head displayed the times I saw them before.

On the other hand, grooving metal like Machine Head plays needs a little attitude. Tonight however, the emphasis is on fun. Flynn’s drinking Absolut Vodka with Coca Cola. A drink he refers to as the ‘Brown Eye’. If you want to know where he got that name, ask him. It’s a funny story but I’m not going to tell you. Some of the tell tale smiles on stage indicate alcohol is not the only substance responsible for the cheerful atmosphere.

Because of the banter on stage Machine Head didn’t grab the crowd by the throat like I’ve seen them do before. But it’s always entertaining to see a band enjoying themselves on stage. And the fans will start a pit anyway. The set list is a good cross section of older and newer material and ‘Creeping Death’ is played with more conviction than Metallica displays nowadays.

During the encore Machine Head fool around with Iron Maiden’s ‘The Trooper’ and Queens Of The Stone Age’s ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’ as well. Drummer Dave McClain and fill in guitarist Phil Demmel do a good job although the former tends to speed up a little during some songs. So, they’re not as overwhelming as they can be but still a lot of fun to watch.

(Review: Walter de Korver
Pics: Marcia Gransbergen)