It was a typical Kansas summer night, hot and sultry, for 98.9 presents Rock the Dotte Psychotherapy Sessions Tour with five incredible bands for a night of hard-hitting extreme/nü metal.
Powerhouse frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey of the Butcher Babies started the evening. The ladies took no time getting the crowd worked up with their gnarly growling scream techniques and energetic stage stances to twirl the locks and headbang to the riffs and drumbeats provided by Henry Flury, Ricky Bonazza, and Chase Brickenden.
Heidi was adventurous and scaled off the stage onto the tops of cabinet stacks in the pit area to get closer to fans and perform her escalated whisper screams. If you have ever been to a Butcher Babies concert, you know this is true Heidi shenanigans. Carla stayed on stage, working it side to side, lending her guttural growls.
Butcher Babies setlist for the night included: Red Thunder, Best Friend (Saweetie cover), Monsters Ball, Beaver Cage, It’s Killin’ Time Baby, Last December, and Magnolia Blvd.
Nonpoint, who formed in 1997, brought their chaos and growls to shake fans up. The heavy-hitting riffs energized fans, and a sizable mosh pit opened up. Even a few crowd surfers made their way down to the front barricade. Frontman Elias Soriano has not slowed down with his stage footwork and still has incredible vocal range. Drummer Robb Rivera is still silly as ever and full of shenanigans while playing. Robb gives a “Curly Joe” (Three Stooges) vibe and leaves you with a smile.
I was impressed with the snap-your-neck guitar riffs provided by Jaysin Zeilstra, Rasheed Thomas, and bassist Adam Woloszyn. The energy these guys bring is anything but lame or lacks power. Nonpoint is one of the old heavy hitters that have gotten better the older they get, and they are not showing any signs of slowing down.
The Nonpoint setlist for the night included: Victim, Dodge Your Destiny, What A Day, A Million Watts, Chaos and Earthquakes, Ruthless, and Bullet with a Name.
GWAR, who formed in 1984, is known for their Scumdogs of the Universe characters who are intergalactic fuck-ups (their words, not mine), gnarly intergalactic fluid sprays, and stage fights between characters.
Tonight was not my first GWAR concert, but my first from the photo pit, so I knew what to expect. The first song in, I was anointed “GWAR style” by the blood from SawBorg Destructo’s arm saw. I had no plastic cover on my gear; all I could do was hug my camera gear, do the “tuck-duck-n-run,” and let my back take the hit. After quickly exiting to the side to wipe off my camera gear and body, I returned to the pit and kept a reasonable distance. I wasn’t even mad. I just laughed because it’s only stage blood, and let’s face it, how many times will this happen in my lifetime?!
If you have never seen GWAR in concert, you should at least see them once in your lifetime. The songs are funny, and the stage show is a whole new level compared to what the production used to be. I’m not even going to spoil the fun. The pictures say it all.
GWAR’s setlist included: Hail Genocide, The Cutter, Mother Fucking Liar, Sick of You, Completely Fucked, Let Us Slay, Fuck This Place, Berserker Mode, If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It. AC/DC cover).
Established in 1993, Coal Chamber was one of the 20 Bands that influenced and helped open the gates for nü metal, according to Alternative Press (Cooper, 20211).
With multiple break-ups behind them, Coal Chamber brought their A-game to the stage tonight, including their dark gothic style psycho make-up for the Psychotherapy Sessions of the night. Dez sported his braids and psycho make-up, Miguel Rascón played a Joker look-alike very well, Nadja was wearing her badass attitude with creepy eye stares, and Mike was sporting neon colors and tape around his shoulders, accompanied by some serious stare-downs as he beat his drums like he was going to rip someone’s head off.
Coal Chamber’s set list included: Loco, Fiend, Big Truck, I.O.U. Nothing, Rowboat, Rowboat (Flood cover), Drove, Dark Days, Oddity, Another Nail in the Coffin, Something Told Me, and Sway.
It has been 15 years since Mudvayne took the stage in the Kansas City area. They closed out the night of the Psychotherapy Sessions tour, sparing no time or throwing lame punches opening their set. The crowd instantly became insane and started pushing to the front.
During the second song, “Under My Skin,” the crowd started surfing towards the stage, mosh pits broke out, and fans on the barricade were crowded. At one point, I had to put my gear down to help security pull a concertgoer and his wheelchair up and over the barricade because the crowd was pushing forward.
At the beginning of the third song, “Internal Primates Forever,” Chad laid into a couple of fighting concertgoers who were throwing punches and pushing people. He reminded the fans that Mudvayne was there to play music and be a family, having fun together for the night. If you wanted to fight, then get the fuck out. After that, the session carried on. I have mad respect for a band that looks out for their fans and will stop the performance when crap gets out of hand because of a few bad apples.
The production and lighting design was epic throughout the show. If you have been on the fence about seeing this bill, I highly recommend buying a ticket to the Psychotherapy Session and getting your crazy on.
Mudvayne’s set list for the night included: Not Falling, Under My Skin, Internal Primates, World So Cold, A New Game, Severed, Death Blooms, Fish Out of Water, Dull Boy, Determined, Nothing to Gein, Dig, and Happy.
Azura Amphitheater
Website
- Cooper, A. (2021, July 21). 20 artists who defined the sound of nü metal from past to present. Alternative Press Magazine. https://www.altpress.com/bands-who-influenced-nu-metal/ ↩︎
