MonstrO Exclusive Tour Diary #3: Toddlers Rock Too

MonstrO features bassist Kyle Sanders (ex-Bloodsimple), drummer Bevan Davies (ex-Bloodsimple, ex-Danzig), guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche) and guitarist/vocalist Charlie Suarez. They recently released their self-titled debut album on Vagrant Records. They've been out on the road spreading their gospel from one sweaty club to other and documenting it all exclusively for Noisecreep.

MonstrO guitarist/vocalist Charlie Suarez:

"Dec.2nd was a monumental night for us in the MonstrO camp. We played The Tabernacle in Atlanta for Mastodon's homecoming show dubbed as "The Missing Link" alongside Tiger!Tiger!, Red Fang, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and The Black Lips. We couldn't have been more excited.

Every time Mastodon or MonstrO play a hometown show, I'm reminded somewhat of a giant family get-together. It's quite heart-warming to see all of our little ones running around, our beautiful better halves by our sides, our little and big brothers for the laughs, and of course, Mama & Papa Sanders as constant support. If someone had brought a turkey and stuffing, it would be nothing short of Thanksgiving dinner.

We opened the show up with 'Fantasma' and I believe I can speak for the rest of MonstrO when I say that the room was electric and full of energy. As our set continued, Alice in Chains vocalist/guitarist (as well as our debut LP's producer) William DuVall joined us onstage and sang 'Concertina.' As far as I'm concerned, he can come up and do that for as long as we play the song live. It's magic to see all five of us up there performing the ideas that we all worked on so passionately and diligently for a packed house. After our unreleased tune 'Parallel,' we proceeded to close the set and brought along another special guest to help us out. Just as the heavy outro section of 'Helios' trampled on, Kyle and Elizabeth's (his better half) little baby Colt jumped on stage with us headbanging and thrashing around like a pro holding his little plastic guitar! Needless to say, The Tabernacle lost it's mind and I'm left wondering if little baby Colt had played here before.

The Tabernacle left us with a standing ovation from upper and lower balconies, and I thanked them for making this an unforgettable experience for everyone in the MonstrO camp.

Next up, we have Susanne Gibboney's sultrily melodic "Tiger! Tiger! owning the stage and displaying the delicate art of weaving infectious harmonies together to create their own brand of indie/garage rock (for lack of better terms, quite the understatement). Fantastic.

Red Fang jumped on next and though they had a long drive back to Oregon, they delivered an intense, ground shaking performance that was not to be missed. The Dillinger Escape Plan kept the show moving by pretty much kicking everyone in the face and stealing their lunch money. They are just so unbelievably tight and insane that it makes me sick. They killed it and have been doing so for as long as I can remember (my previous band and DEP were label mates many years ago on Now or Never Records. I saw them back in the day and they were incredibly awesome back then, so now I'm convinced that they are from another planet). Superb set, gentlemen. The Black Lips took what was left of the stage after DEP and killed it as well. They have crazy fans with endless energy that The Black Lips fed off of and projected right back. I honestly didn't catch their whole set because I had to get ready for...well, the mayhem that was to soon be unleashed.

Earlier in the evening, Susanne (Tiger! Tiger!) approached Juan, Kyle and I with a black hooded cloak. We are to wear this and jump on stage and sing 'Creature Lives' alongside Mastodon and all the other "Missing Link" bands. I couldn't wait! So, at the end of Mastodon's flawless two hour set, Troy Sanders plucked the unmistakable bass line that starts 'Creature Lives' and the mayhem began. The band then invited half of Atlanta up onstage with them and the chanting of us and the crowd took over as "slime" green balloons fell from the ceiling. This, my friends, concludes "The Missing Link". If you missed any of it, don't do it again. A special thanks to Mastodon for inviting us to be a part of such a priceless event.

MonstrO heads back on the road from Dec 8-17 as direct support for Savannah's Black Tusk. L.A.'s Kyng will be joining us as well. See you there!"

Attention vinyl collectors: MonstrO recently released a limited edition 7" of their 'Anchors Up!' single with a B-Side called 'Stallone' which is available here from Limited Fanfare.

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