Evil Disco night by the hand of Static-X and Dope. Arena Sur, Nov. 8th.
If you wanted a special evening full of Industrial and Nu Metal, I hope you were at Arena Sur last night.
The power that surrounded the place was just overwhelming. A dream gig for everyone who loves the late 90s and early 00s Metal scene.
The first band to come on the scene was the local Gothic Metal band ‘Inazulina’, showing us a set full of dark ambiance and theatrical lyrical vocals.
They were followed by ‘Army of Sound’ a Rammstein cover band. There’s not much to say about it, nothing can go wrong if you put a bunch of classic Rammstein songs on a gig like this. Perfectly executed every single one of them.
And after that, we can say the same good things for the next band, ‘Sinestesya’, a Korn tribute band.
Just a perfect example of how to start a gig like this!
Around 9 pm, the first half of the principal meal came onstage. I’m talking about DOPE.
Just 6 songs on their set were enough to make all of us jump around in an unstoppable way.
The sound of the drumbeat was so powerful that it made the whole place tremble. Edsel on vocals is a true scream king. His voice is exactly the same as it was more than 20 years ago. The bass and guitar players didn’t stop jumping and dancing, not for a single song. The crowd was on fire, everyone looked like having such a good time, smiling and singing.
The Dope’s set was made by songs like “Blood Money”, “Bring It On”, “Bitch”, “Debonaire”, “Die, Boom, Bang, Burn, Fuck” and an epic ending with “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”, the ‘Dead or Alive’ 80’s hit. One of the most popular and nostalgic Metal covers of the early 2000s.
The show seemed a bit short, but that 6 song set was pure magic. And Edsel needed to rest his voice for a little while before the headliner show was ready to begin.
Let’s stop here for a moment to give a quick full view. Static-X has never played in Buenos Aires before. The tragic passing of Wayne Static seemed to be the last nail in the coffin. Fortunately for us, bassist Tony Campos decided a few years ago to not put an end to these amazing and beautiful songs that meant so much in people’s lives.
But even knowing that the band started touring again, it still looks very far away to get to see Static-X in Buenos Aires.
And… here we are, they actually came, and the show…
Well, the show, let’s move on!
Around 22 pm lights went off, people started shouting and the screen on the stage wrote 2 words on loop: “Evil Disco”. Like trying to tell us what it was going to be about. On a disco night, you can dance to the next songs, but in a violent way. Scream, jump, step into the mosh, go crazy. But the groove that the songs carry behind won’t let your feet stand still.
The first songs were “Hollow”, “Terminator Oscillator” and “Love Dump”. Edsel came back to the stage, now wearing a ‘Wayne Static cyborg mask’ and the band remained the classic Static-X lineup: Tony on bass, Koichi on guitar, and Ken on drums. Lights everywhere, animations on the screen that fitted perfectly on each song, and a wall of sound very clear and massive at the same time. And not to tell about Edsel‘s very similar vocals to Wayne‘s.
It made sense why they had to end fast the Dope‘s set. The screams on Static‘s tracks are louder, heavier, and more common.
“Sweat of The Bud”, “Wisconsin Death Trip” and “Fix” followed the set. It’s almost useless to say that there were no people with their feet on the ground. Just the ones that opened up the pit and started moshing around.
“Bled for Days”, “Black and White”, “Z0mbie”, and “Get to the Gone”… it was a Metal party. A gift for that freak kid who listened to Nu Metal in high school and grew up feeling like a black sheep in their teenage years.
“I Am” was next, and then we saw a tribute to our dear Wayne on screen, showing pictures of him, and how deeply missed he is. After that, the band played “Cold” with a video of him singing along behind.
“I’m With Stupid” finished the first part of the set, making everyone go nuts. They left the stage and Tony showed up to say how happy he was of getting to play in Buenos Aires for the first time with Static-X. He said he played many times here before and always thought about how amazing could be to bring Static-X to the Argentinian city.
The last song of the night was, of course, “Push It”. It couldn’t be another way, it had to be “Push It”. Madness took over Arena Sur at the last minute. Leaving all of us singing that catchy chorus while we walked outside the place to go back home with a big smile on our faces.
Photos by Ivy Llad
Review by Agustin Lopez
Produced by From Hell Fest Argentina