Rise of the Machine Tour Sells Out Cincinnati

Mike Ritchie April 21, 2023 Bogarts, Live Show Reviews, Uncategorized

On Wednesday March 29, The Rise of the Machine Tour stormed through Cincinnati, packing Bogarts wall to wall. The 40+ date trek started late February in San Francisco stretched through the country finishing April 16 in Los Angeles. The tour will play a string of dates in Australia next month.

Headlined by Static-X, the re-scheduled due to Covid tour celebrated the 20^th Anniversary of sophomore album Machine, with support from Fear Factory and Dope and Cultus Black with Mushroomhead and Twiztid alternating dates.

The tour marked the return of Fear Factory after legal litigation and Dino Cazares finding a new lead singer in Italian Milo Silvestro. The tour sold out almost every stop proving live touring is back and in brutal form after over the year of silence. The Evil Disco has returned.

Static-X teamed with props/costume mastermind Eddie Yang of Deity Creative for guitarist/vocalist XerO’s live attire. Giving the character a new, updated Terminator, Lawnmower Man meets anime vibe. They will release new album Projection Regeneration Vol. 2 later this year featuring the last recordings of Wayne Static. The tour also featured the original Wisconsin Death Trip lineup.

The evening opened in dark ceremonial style with Raleigh North Carolina’s Cultus Black. A combination of horror movie, cult rock, unique oddity and something you can’t look away from or unsee. It was part black mass in title and part Motorgrater, Marilyn Manson and Slipknot in appearance with two members looking like the killer from The Town That Dreaded Sundown teamed with The Collector. The live show gives a serial true crime vibe, like the band just did something very wrong and they’re gonna tell you about it. Center stage was occupied by slender long haired body painted front man “L” giving off reflections of Cannibal Holocaust emerging from the darkest part of the Amazon. His exterior shouted a clear look saying he liked wearing his bones, splattered on the outside. While the rest of the masked specters jumped around looming the stage including the Cults shrouded, hooded co-vocalist, looking like he stepped out of a back alley after something featured in a future crime documentary. He took to the crowd literary, jumping stage and crowd surfing mid-show exploring Cincinnati two hands at a time.

The “Witch Hunt” officially began the evening with lyrical torches and torturous, binding riffs. “Killing the Beautiful” started the nine inch nailed nightmare, going haunted-grindcore style, wrapped up hard and tight Dexter style. “Nevermine” went pharma-black as reality blurred into the unclear void. The “Burn” ignited feelings of rebellion calling the outcasts in the venue and outside to unite. They put a heavy metal spin on Nirvana’s “Negative Creep” shrouding it in a longer creepier shadow.

“You Make Me Sick” was a bloodstained baseball bat ballad to the head, ears and senses screamed loud with a smile. The new video for “Lorelei” drops on YouTube Friday.

Changing styles and subgenres the Motor City Certified Psychos Twiztid came out delivering a two prong rap-metal powerbomb punch to the ears and eyes. It was a show of anything and everything creepy, weird, concerning and perverse presented by horror-gore fans and anything sinister or dark. Madrox and Monoxide started spitting “Phlegm in the Windpipe” with assaulting intentions. It’s video counterpart’s are worth watching for its rapid fire freaky-weird footage.

The creepy crawly eerie notes of “Envy” reminded everyone to report what they see, with a true crime investigative tingle. The devil came out in the raw on “Kill Somebody” taking care of business street style. “Magic Spellz” intoxicated the crowd with its sing along, shouting words and chorus. Grave encounters came forth on “We Don’t Die” with an Ouija spin on a super natural ride.

Sanity escaped with the killer turn of the “Corkscrew.” With “Buckets of Blood” a GWAR like tribute to animated grindhouse mutation with “Parasite” lending a procedural cult vibe.

Old Glory hung side stage on screen as Edsel Dope and company came out ready to medicate the crowd. Whether Mr. Dope was doing double duty that tour was up for debate. The stage celebrated newest release Blood Money Part ZerO with Dope blazed on banner in fire/Halloween orange as the stage was dosed in a dark rainbow medical-lit haze.

“Blood Money” opened the show with gore, violence and greed done clockwork, with at least one song from all previous records represented in the set. “Violence” brought out the musical shootout and firepower, one bullet at a time. A different version of Group Therapy was prescribed with full blown extreme carnal knowledge, busted open, experimented with and encouraged with the “Bitch” feeling the “Burn.”

It was a trip back old school with Felons and Revolutionaries on a “Debonaire” ride. “I’m Back” brought rough, brutal apathy with “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” sent Cincinnati back to the big, bombastic world of ‘80s pop.

Under the misty sea of cold, industrial blue light with logos glowing in white, spinal cords stretched up the mics like freshly pulled trophies by the Predator. Fear Factory version new emerged led by Silverstro with Static-X bassist Tony Compas pulling the first set of double duty.

The OG’s of cyber metal covered most of their library litany of man vs. machine stories and shredders opened loud and Obsolete with “Shock.” Breaking into the graphic nature of the program, the “Edgecrusher” warned listener discretion was advised. The new chapter and Aggression Continium delivered the “Disruptor,” while Genexus brought forth “Dielectric”“Powershifter” shifted back a few years Mechanized in time as. “What Will Become?” reminded everyone about being Digimortal.

The building block and sophomore release of the new machine “Demanufacture” began its blasting beat reminding everyone it’s the cybernetic spine of the sub-genre. “Zero Signal” and “Replica” were a small ending live seminar in old school Fear Factory and the mid-‘90s. .

An industrial, neon city of lights, signs and messages built around doming the stage as the giant podium was wheeled out. Static X emerged with uber XerO in full cyber-drone, Terminator glare guitar in hand ready to kill with evil disco driven tunes. The first group of groovy tunes was set for fans to take in the experience as XerO would ascend again mid-show with everything in tribute to Wayne Static.

“Permanence” began with a nice early dose of Machine while the crowd took in XerO and the full blinding, flashing neon spectacle, reflecting off thousands of faces like a scene from Blade Runner.

“This Is Not” picked up the pace and movement as XerO stared the audience down with literal laser focus and intent to hunt.

“Love Dump” was the first flashback back to the Wisconsin Death Trip as title track and three trippy off-road offerings followed.

Frankenstein had indeed come back to life slamming into new material “Terminator Oscillator.” War was declared on “Just in Case then back to basement dwelling “Dirthouse.”

“Bien Venidos/Get to the Gone” gave Cincinnati another spoke in the Machine.

They saved the raw mammal meat close to last feeding them audio “Cannibal” innards. A page from the Pretty Hate Machine spewed out “Terrible Lie” with a “Cold” goodbye to the Machine as the end drew near