Mushroomhead
October 17, 2014
House of Blues- Los Angeles, CA
It was finally time that Shockfest of 2014 had come to Los Angeles. The fans were definitely ready, as many of them had clown face paint on for the headliners, Insane Clown Posse. Soundcheck411 however was there to see one artist and one artists only: Mushroomhead! After briefly catching them at 2014’s Mayhem Festival, we were excited to see what these 9 guys had in store.
Hailing from Cleveland, OH, Mushroomhead consists of 9 members; 3 vocalists, 3 drummers, a bassist, guitarist and keyboardist. They’ve been on the scene since 1993 and have 7 albums to show from it, accumulated a large following and had perfected their intense stage performance. Their most recent album, The Righteous & The Butterfly was released on May 13, 2014 and was openly received by fans and music critics alike. The album reached the top 20 of the Billboard Top 200 chart and sold over 11,000 copies the first week. It also reached No. 5 in the Top Rock Albums and No. 1 in the Top Hard Rock Albums. But good music isn’t all of what Mushroomhead has to offer and after watching their short, 7 song set at the House of Blues on October 17, 2014, everyone in the audience knows why.
Before they came on stage, the fans got a peek at their stage set-up (which was far too small for 9 people) which had tons of neon paints on all their equipment. Many of the fans actually got 3-D glasses from the merchandise tent and when they put it on, many things appeared to be 3-D including the colorful drum set. It was something that was definitely new and something that brought the set to a whole new level. Their set began with Qwerty, giving a spooky vibe. The band members came out one by one, in their famous masks. There were two sets of tom drums on both sides of stages and when played (which they were quite often), water would shoot up in the air, as the drummers flipped and threw their sticks in the air. There was constant fan interaction as multiple members were constantly reaching out into the crowd, crowd surfing and crowd walking. It was amazing how much these guys could and did do in such a short set.
If this is what Mushroomhead can accomplish in a 7 song set, we can’t wait to see what they have in store for their own headlining tour!
Review by: Nicole Lemberg
