On October 10, 2023, Arizona Financial Theater in Phoenix, AZ had people lined up to see this stop on the BabyKlok tour. As the sun was setting allowing for somewhat cooler temps, 97 degrees to be exact, people were entering the building excited to not only be out of the Arizona heat but to catch this interesting lineup. The bill consisted of Jason Richadson, BABYMETAL and Dethklok, with first up Jason Richardson.
Jason Richardson is an American guitarist known for his work with bands such as Born of Osiris and Chelsea Grin. He is well an official member of All That Remains which I personally have not heard since high school. With Jason starting off the show, he was able to show case his talents as a guitarist, providing shredding solos and instrumentals of his prior work with mentioned bands.
Shortly after but before BABYMETAL graced Arizona with their unique style of stage
productions, and intro was given on LED screen behind the stage with little story telling
welcoming BABYMETAL’s fans. As the story was told fans pressed further up against the
barricades attempting to get up close to that band as possible.
“A long time ago in a heavy metal galaxy far far away…The spirit of heavy metal, the Fox God,
chose 3 newly reborn metal spirits and summoned them to the metalverse where an unknown future awaits. The spirit of heavy metal traverse across the world, rose above language barriers, went beyond generations, and created countless legends. Life and death. Beginnings and endings. In this infinite loop, the spirit goes on living. But for BABYMETAL, transcending oneself is the only path left.”
As intro fades to black, masked members came on stage opening with head banging riff intro from the song “Baby Metal Death.” A few seconds in the three main members, Su-Metal,
Moametal, and Momometal marched onto the stage with outfits reminiscent of samurai armor. As fans chanted “B-A-B-Y-M-E-T-A-L” they head banged and cheered as BABYMETAL was providing the upmost showmanship of the night. On to the ever-popular “Gimme Chocolate!” BABYMETAL brought the energy that fans were anticipating to the stage. With dance moves choreographed to precision, the band played through an 11-song set including songs off of all four of their albums. Some of which guest appearances were made via LED screen providing such talent was F.Hero for the song “Pa Pa Ya!!” as well as Tom Morello for the song “METALI!!”, which had a great intro with each member showcasing talent through solos, from guitars and bass to the drummer. “KARATE” provided the best crowd interaction with Su-Metal shouting “PHOENIX!!! Take out your phones!!” as the fans raised their phones a shot of the venue displayed on the LED screen as if stars were lighting up the venue. Fans were moshing, crowd surfing, singing along in both English and Japanese, and overall having a good time throughout the show.
After BABYMETAL’s set soon came up Dethklok, being an animated band, the visuals were a key element of this set. Scenes from their Metalocalypse tv show played out across the LED screen backdrop, with the band themselves silhouetted on the stage. Although im not well verse with the TV show from what I heard the sold-out crowd and long entry line were reminiscent of those in the TV show, with fans packing the floor of the venue. With a 17-song set, including two live debuts (“Aortic Desecration” and “SOS”), Dethklok’s set was incredibly fun, and brought a bit of the cartoonish nature of the band to real life. Fans were head banging and chanting lines and immersing themselves in the theatrical showmanship of Dethklok which did not disappoint for fans of the TV show. Personally, I for one could not get a spoof song out of my head, “BatMetal” which resembles a similar style of animation and sound. Overall the bill may have been an interesting take on theatrics, it all worked in each other favor.
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