10 years. Count ’em – 1,2,3… blah blah, 10. That’s how freakin’ long Aussie fans waited for the return of Dave Wyndorf’s mighty Monster Magnet. Sydney’s finest venue (one of the finest anyway), the fabulous Metro was again the scene for this highly anticipated gig. Was it worth it, did they still pack a wallop? Yes indeed – although they looked so very tired. And bafflingly, the set did not feature a single track of their latest album 4-Way Diablo. Too lazy to learn the songs? Lazy bastard rockers!
Dave Wyndorf was formally a lean mean rocking machine, fronting one of the leading hard rock acts of the nineties. Now he’s overweight (think Meatloaf) and slow on his feet, but he’s still got the voice and is more than capable with a guitar slapped on. Monster Magnet were tight, very tight – it was a pleasure to witness some pros in action (or inaction really, they didn’t really rock out much at all).
Monster Magnet opened proceedings with the riff-tastic trilogy of Dopes To Infinity, Crop Circle, and Powertrip. The balls-out, flat to the floor theme continued into a ruthless Twin Earth, followed up by the colossal, unrelenting monolith that is Third Alternative. We all needed a breather after that, and Monster Magnet served up Zodiac Lung to provide a break. It’s laid back grooves allowed many punters a bar break before the brutality of Radiation Day. However by now Dave wasn’t moving much at all and the galloping rocker The Right Stuff featured an extended jam ending, the only purpose of which appeared to give Dave a break sidestage. He was looking pretty puffed too.
Following the bombastic blast of their two biggest singles Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Spacelord, Monster Magnet retreated from the stage for a breather – before the inevitable encore. And let me tell you brothers and sisters, this was no one or two song encore, but a solid half hour featuring four of Monster Magnets finest – the searing Melt, space-dirge Cage Around The Sun, Tractor, and can you believe it – what is arguably Monster Magnet’s greatest epic – Spine Of God! Wow. All I can say is to quote Monster Magnet: “Sometimes I dig it so much, I could die!” Um… shit yeah!
