Robb Flynn (Machine Head) has announced that he will be performing at “Stars To The Rescue XXVIII.” That event will take place on January 26 at the Lesher Center For The Arts in Walnut Creek, CA and proceeds will go towards Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation. Other confirmed artists include Bruce Hornsby and Christian McBride. Additional lineup announcements will be made at a later date. Tickets can be purchased HERE.
On November 24, I attended Machine Head’s concert at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA and it was an awesome show that saw guitarist Phil Demmel and drummer Dave McClain take the stage with the band one last time.
The group kicked off the three hour set with “Imperium” and the crowd lost their minds. The energy in the room was infectious right from the beginning and it was sustained throughout the night as the band continued to power through tracks like “Volatile,” “Now We Die,” and “Beautiful Mourning.” The group were solid on all fronts and were definitely trying to put on an amazing performance in light of Demmel and McClain’s impending exit. Frontman Robb Flynn was even trying to get the entire audience involved with fist pumping, clapping, moshing, and more.
After about seven songs in, Demmel was given a chance to show off his skills with an insane guitar solo. It was kind of a bittersweet moment, considering he will no longer be performing with Machine Head, but the crowd loved every second of it. As he finished, people started to chant “thank you Phil” for his years of work with the group. From there, they launched into “Darkness Within” followed by the title track to their latest album “Catharsis.”
The band then played six more tracks, including: “Is There Anybody Out There?,” a cover of Iron Maiden’s “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” “Locust,” etc., before it was time for McClain to say goodbye with an epic drum solo. It was another bittersweet moment since McClain’s thunderous beats will no longer be present in the band’s live shows, but everyone was awestruck nonetheless. The solo paved the way for three more killer songs, “Bulldozer,” “Killers & Kings,” and the crowd favorite “Davidian.”
After that, the show began to reach its end, but the energy never faded. In fact, it actually grew as the group rocked a covers medley featuring tracks from Metallica, Bon Jovi, Queen, Guns N’ Roses, and Alice In Chains. As if that wasn’t enough, they followed it with “Aesthetics Of Hate,” “Game Over,” and “Old” as the main set came to a close. The audience then screamed “Machine Fucking Head” repeatedly until they returned for their encore song “Halo.”
At the conclusion of the track, Flynn thanked everyone for coming out, and said it was kind of a weird moment since it was Demmel and McClain’s last show, but the two did have an incredible sendoff as the crowed yelled “thank you Phil and Dave.” Demmel seemed to be a little emotional and gave a Flynn a long hug, before all the members ended up hugging each other. Demmel and McClain then took center stage for one last bow as everyone screamed. With that, the latest chapter of the band was officially closed on a high note. However, there is still a bit of uncertainty regarding their future, so it will be interesting to see where Flynn takes things next.
Robb Flynn has revealed that Phil Demmel and Dave McClain are planning to exit Machine Head after their fall North American tour. He also added that Jared MacEachern ākind of quitā too, but he has now decided to stay. The upcoming trek, which is now being called a farewell tour, will be a ācelebration of [the group’s] music and this era of the band.ā
Flynn said the following about the split:
āWe have grown apart as people. Musically weāve grown apart. I have held onto too tight to the reins of this band and I have suffocated those guys. I got some rough edgesāIām kind of a barnacle. And those rough edges have given us the success we have, but theyāve also hurt the people around me.ā
āIāve got a lot of drive, but I got a lot of anger and rage. And that drive of mine has alienated folks in the band. I ask that you respect Phil and Daveās decision, as I respect Philās decision. I want to say that Iām honored and grateful for everything that they have contributed to Machine Head, which is a lot.ā
He also added the following about the future:
āI donāt know what the future holds. Weāre all a little scared. Iām scared and theyāre scaredā¦ā
He later continued:
āIām gonna do a little bit of soul searching here in my life and take a long hard look at myself, as Iāve done in the past. Iāve done twenty years of therapy at this point and apparently it wasnāt enough.ā
[via The PRP]
Machine Headās Robb Flynn has issued a statement regarding violence at shows following various fan injuries, including one instance in which a man was suplexed and knocked unconscious during the band’s May 13 concert in Southampton, UK. You can read what he had to say below.
Flynn’s statement:
āRobb here: The man on the floor is Dan Giles, Dan was severely injured at last nights show when during a song near the end of our set. Several witnesses confirmed that Dan (who is a big dude to begin with) was picked up by a larger unknown dude and āsuplexedā WWE-style (turned upside down and dropped on his head). He was knocked unconscious for 45 minutes.
We stopped the show after people alerted us that he was not getting up, and we were unable to finish the concert as we waited for an ambulance to arrive, combined with a strict Sunday night curfew.
Dan was laid out on the venue floor for over 90 minutes. He eventually came to, and thankfully was able to walk to the ambulance through a great amount of pain in his chest. He felt bad for stopping the show.
To say that Machine Head does NOT in any way approve of this WWE-type of behavior at our show would be a fucking understatement.
Machine Head shows are rough, we know it. Part of the fun of being at our shows is the rowdy, drunken, nature of it all, circle pits, jumping, releasing negative energy in a positive way. Hell, surviving a Machine Head pit is part of the danger and fun of our concert experience. I myself canāt tell you how many āwar woundsā I walked out the pit with when I was young, and Iām proud of every one of āem. Busted nose, chipped teeth, broken rib at a Slayer show in 1991ā¦ they were all lived-to-tell-about-it-momentsā¦ some bizarre rite-of-passage young men put themselves through.
But it is an unsaid rule of the circle pit, that if someone falls, you pick them upā¦ you love your brother! I often bellow these words as a reminder to folks before starting a giant circle pit, to ālook out for each otherā. Weāre all here to work out our own struggles and bullshit that we are going through as individuals.
It should go without saying that picking somebody up and slamming them on their head, is COMPLETELY FUCKING LAME! I canāt imagine the dude who did this is a Head Case or even someone who regularly goes to metal shows. More like some asshole there to start shit.
This is the 2nd show in a row now, where weāve had to stop the concert because of a serious injury.
Complicating things even more, is that for the first time in 24 years of touring, people are now regularly waving-us-down to āstop playingā because someone fell or got hurt. It happened 4 different times last night, and we finally stopped when there was clearly a serious issue.
The tough call is that, in MOST cases the injured person is fine, and gets up. Obviously stopping the show every time someone falls down, will basically ruin the show for thousands of folks. But at the same time we need to find a balance between violent-fun and safety.
This is uncharted territory for us.
Youāll have to bare with us a we figure out the best way to approach this, and involving well-trained concert security familiar with Machine Head-type shows at a higher level will absolutely be important.
The good news is, is that long-time Head Case Dan Giles walked out of the venue last night, and while Iām sure heās feeling it today, is going to be able to rage at another Machine Head show again.
Thank you Southampton for what was great show up until then, send some good vibes to your local boy Dan Giles.ā
Over the weekend, the youth took to the streets as part of the March For Our Lives movement in an effort to push for stricter gun laws and school safety in the wake of the Parkland, FL high school shooting, and past school shootings. Now, Machine Head’s Robb Flynn has taken to social media to offer his support for the initiative.
Flynn said the following:
āEmma Gonzalez is my HERO!! She is a fucking BAD ASS!! I feel like we are watching history here folks. Never in my 50 years on this planet have I seen the young people rise up like this and stand up to these ancient politicians and their 200 year old laws and their dinosaur age mentality. Fuck man, Itās not 1776 anymore!!!
If cars werenāt invented when a law was made, we may want to reevaluate it!! Whatās amazing is that, Emma and her Stoneman Douglas classmates are getting death threats for standing for gun control. Let that sink inā¦ 17 classmates murdered by a 19 year old white, conservative, Christian, male with an AR-15, these kids want stricter gun laws, and now, THEY are getting their lives threatened. This girl and the young people of Parkland are going to change shit.
Do yourselves a favor, watch here entire 6 minute video, and then search the hashtag #veteransforguncontrol and watch the 2 minute video (currently not share-able) made by our courageous troops.ā
After missing some shows due to Robb Flynn’s “severe lung infection”, Machine Head are planning to return to the stage in Chicago, IL tomorrow (February 23). Flynn shared the below video update:
Machine Head were planning to resume their tour in Des Moines, Iowa tonight (February 20), but they have been forced to cancel due to issues related to Robb Flynn’s “severe lung infection.” The frontman will be visiting a throat specialist today. The group previously cut their Pittsburgh, PA show short and cancelled their Cleveland, OH and Detroit, MI dates as well. They also scrapped their Madison, Wisconsin show on February 21 to break up a five-in-a-row block.
