Review: Static-X, Fear Factory, Dope, Twizted, Cultus Black.
Photos and Review by: Edward After Buffalo
Chicago, IL -Static X returned to Chicago this past Friday (4/07/23) playing in front of a sold-out crowd on their Rise of The Machines Tour at the House of Blues. The tour was delayed a couple of times due to the pandemic but has been in full swing over the last couple of months and the anticipation for this show could be felt upon arrival. With a line wrapped around the building and a nearly full room as the first band took the stage you could feel that people were excited for this one to start. The stacked lineup for this show included: Cultus Black, Twiztid, Fear Factory and Dope.
Cultus Black kicked things off at 6:30 pm and set the tone for the evening. Bringing aggressive and hard-hitting songs and a unique look. With their singer who goes by “L” being covered in body paint and the rest of the members being masked it’s easy to compare them to groups like Slipknot and Mushroomhead. They bring the same energy as the aforementioned bands. It’s no easy task to be the opener of a show but Cultus Black set a tone that would be echoed throughout the night. The crowd seemed to be enjoying their set and a notable moment is when a member of Cultus jumped off the security barrier into the crown. After they finished, “L” exited through the crowd.
Xer0 of Staic- X
After a quick change over Twiztid took the stage. Earlier in the day a friend texted me and said they had caught Twiztid on a Warped Tour and was blown away at how good they were. As someone not too familiar with their music this got me excited about the group. The Duo from Detroit, Michigan sounded great with a band performing behind them. Playing a number of songs and getting the crowd moving around in the pit for the first time of the evening. This set was a lot of fun to watch.
Dope took the stage next, and this was when the crowd felt truly awake. With front man Edsel Dope commanding the now full crowd to jump, make some noise, and move around the energy in the room really picked up during this set. Edsel did a good job engaging the crowd and thanking them for their patience with the delays in the tour. He mentioned how everyone is “older” now, but their performance proved otherwise. Between guitarist Acey Slade jumping from the risers to the stage, bassist Daniel Fox’s swift moves, drummer Chrissy Warner’s incredible drumming and Edsel’s tight vocals. The band hasn’t lost a step. Playing a number of hard-hitting songs what stood out was everyone singing “Die Mother F**cker Die” and closing with, to quote, Edsel “The stupidest song ever written” a cover of “You Spin me Round”.
Shortly after Dope finished the legendary Fear Factory took the stage and played one of the heaviest sets of the evening. The band sounded great, and the crowd was ready to eat up their performance. With new singer Milo Silvestro and Tony Campo on bass pulling double duty for the night. Earplugs were a must for this set. The band played a number of songs from their discography which included “Shock”, “Edgecrusher” and “Replica”. Their stage presence was one to remember with great lighting, spinal cord and brain wrapped on their mic stands.
After a solid lineup of supporting bands playing and energizing the crowd it was time for Static-X to take the stage. With the stage being surrounded with digital displays and lighting, the production quality for their set up was incredible. The fans were buzzing, and you could feel the anticipation as members of the crowd started to crowd surf as the crew finished setting up the stage. As the house lights dimmed “Time Warp” from Rocky Horror Picture Show played, a mascot in a white suite walked onto the stage shining a light into the crowd while carrying a shovel. Members of Static-X walked onto the stage with various light displays flashing across the screens on then began to the crowd. The band opened with “Permanence” and as the music began, current front man “Xer0”, started ascending the stairs of the platform with their bright red eyes illuminating the venue. The fans erupted at the site of Xer0. Their costume and mask design were created by Eddie Yang from Deity Creative Inc. Their creative design for Xer0’s costume was a blend of futuristic and robotic. Xer0 did an incredible job working the crowd and energizing them to jump along with the band. This could be felt under the concert goers’ feet as you could feel the floor moving along with them.
Opening with several songs from “Machine”, the band sounded impeccable. They played “Wisconsin Death Trip” which caused a wave of people to crowd surf.
Towards the end of the set, a large platform was brought back out as the band played “Cold” with fake snow falling as the display screen paid homage to Wayne Static. This was truly a beautiful site. Before the last song bass player Tony Campos took a moment to thank the crowd and introduce his band members: Ken Jay on Drums, Koichi Fukuda on guitar, Xer0 on vocals/guitar. Tony took a moment to mention as to how the delays in the tour allowed them to continue to add lighting and among other things to their performance and it really showed at tonight’s performance. This was truly a sight to see and one of the cooler stage sets up I’ve seen in recent years. The band closed with fan favorite “Push it”. Having never seen a lot of these bands perform in the past it was a fun experience to be able to see them all on the same bill. What stood out most is how great Static-X sounded and how these songs still hold up. There are limited dates for this tour left, but if it is coming to your city you do not want to miss this lineup.
