Kadavar/Mothership
April 10, 2014
Atlanta, GA
The Masquerade (Purgatory)
When the Scorpion Child/Kadavar/Gypsyhawk/Mothership/Wilson tour completely missed the Southeast (FAIL!) last year, I thought maybe I had missed my chance to see Kadavar but low and behold, Kadavar and Mothership announced that they would be touring together. After doing a happy dance and patiently waiting show day finally arrived. I could feel it in the cool, crisp Atlanta air that this night was going to pretty fucking magical. The bands were playing in Purgatory which is the smallest room of the Masquerade. Normally I’d bitch about this but something just told me that this was going work as an advantage. The setting for the Atlanta debut of Kadavar couldn’t have been more suiting. The cavernous, cold, industrial stone and metal of the Masquerade (an old excelsior mill) must have had these German riff masters feeling at home somewhat. Add to this the smell of cheap beer, booze, and the sounds of classic euro metal over the PA and this could’ve been akin to seeing Black Sabbath back in 1970 or something.
Local openers The Dirty Magazines opened the night to about 20 people in attendance. The band started playing this kind of punk/stoner rock hybrid that sounded cool at first. The minute the singer opened his mouth it all went downhill from there and for 25 minutes it just didn’t get any better by a long shot. Matter of fact, I’d love to bill them for the 25 minutes of life I lost sitting through their set.
Second on the bill was Dallas, TX space rock trio Mothership. Lead singer Kyle Juett instructed everyone to take two steps forward and to have a fucking good time. 
With that being said, Mothership opened with the spacy psychedelic jam “Hallucination” and then slammed face first into the song “Lunar Master.” It was at this point that I was totally blown away. Mothership was delivering their sonic psychedelic blues metal to a roomful of faces that seemed to be all as blown away as I was. The band I was seeing up on this stage was far better than the one that was captured on their debut album but it was the song “City Nights” that truly set the bar high. This song had the band wearing their Texas colors as it really was a shit kicking cosmic boogie woogie jam that really highlighted the talents of lead guitarist Kelley Juett. The song “Angel of Death” seemed to lose me a little bit but the sweet ass breakdown in the middle seemed to just bring it all together. Mothership really did what I feel most support bands should do and that’s set the bar high. They walked out on that stage and for 45 minutes owned the shit out of it. Mothership landed in Atlanta that night and without a doubt converted me into a faithful follower. I really have a feeling that this is just the beginning of what should and hopefully will be a long, cosmic future for Mothership.
So if Mothership set the bar high, Kadavar reached that bar and did 57 minutes worth of power chin-ups, pulled the bar down and made a pipe out of it. Some bands are good live bands, some bands are great live bands, and some bands just seem to exceed any kind of description as to how good they are. Even as I try and recount the show for this here interview, I have to say that in all honesty it’s completely overwhelming just how fucking great Kadavar is live. The trio took the stage to a very appreciative and gracious crowd and opened with “Liquid Sky.” I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut during this performance because I was just in complete awe as to how fucking good this band is. “Doomsday Machine” kicked things into high gear and it was like stepping into the Dolorean time machine to a time when music knew no boundaries, no genre definition, and no autotune. There wasn’t a still body in the room as guys and girls shook what they had as they were all completely mesmerized and physically moved by the sonic groove of Kadavar. “Black Sun” had such an infectious, nasty groove that all the chicks in the room were dancing like strippers without a pole. At one point some dude leaned into me and says, “Man, this is sexy metal.” Sexy metal… Nice.
Everyone in attendance seemed to be completely captivated by Kadavar’s performance and their amazing musical performance could only be matched by their electrifying stage presence. Lead singer/guitarist Christoph “Lupus“ Lindemann every now and then would thank everyone for coming out but instead of talking and hamming it up chose to throw everything he had into the performance and the music he was making. Lindemann was totally feeling the vibe which could be felt in the audience and reciprocated two fold. He headbanged, beat the hell out of his guitar and took his soaring vocals to heights that exceed that of what I heard on the albums. Watching drummer Christoph “Tiger” Bartelt was like watching Animal beat the living fuck out of his drums. His passion and energy just about made him somewhat the frontman while bassist Simon “Dragon” Bouteloup kind stepped back in the shadows playing it cool while setting the groove and swaying and moving to it. The setlist was a great mix of songs from both the debut and the latest album Abra Kadavar but to me the highlight of the night was when they tore into “All Our Thoughts” from the debut. This song had Lindemann ripping solos left and right as if he were holding a personal séance with the gods of lead guitar past. At this point I knew I was seeing a truly epic and magical performance that just may be the best performance I’ve ever seen this side of a Graveyard show. Without that fake out encore break and barely a chance to even take a breath, Kadavar left us all with “Creature of the Demon” which was mindlblowingly exhausting.
A Kadavar show is something that you should not go through life without seeing. It’s amazing, mind blowing, face melting, fun, and mentally and physically exhausting. When I mean exhausting I mean this in a good way as the band truly connected with the audience and for the duration of this show I could feel the energy that they were putting out to us and I could feel myself giving it right back to them to the point of exhaustion. Matter of fact, at times I even felt as if I was the only one present as the band played and pulled me into their world and creating that sonic connection with me and their songs. This is something that many bands strive to do but seldom achieve yet Kadavar seems to not try at all and accomplish this with ease. Kadavar is something you just have to see for yourself. It’s mystical, it’s magical, and it’s powerful. Yeah, this is some powerful stuff kids.
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