After 18 long years between Australian tours, a 12-year hiatus, and no new music since 2009, you’d think Mudvayne might have slipped quietly into the annals of metal history. But you try telling that to the thousands who packed Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Friday night. From the faded band tees pulled out of the back of drawers to the roar of the crowd before the first note, this wasn’t just a gig. This was a resurrection.
With the loco ones, Coal Chamber in tow this is a neat little package of nu metal goodness we could only dream of.
Fresh off a sold-out show in Brisbane, the Sydney crowd was buzzing from well before the doors opening. A line begins to build early, as bars nearby overflow with friends recounting memories of seeing these bands countless years ago. Many old school band shirts came out of the back of the drawer as I spot shirts from Mudvayne tours of the past. Most no longer black, fading to the lighter shade of grey, still adorned proudly.
Before we knew it the lights dimmed, Mr. Sandman eerily echoed through the PA, melting into John Carpenter’s Halloween theme. Suddenly, Coal Chamber’s neon-lit amps flared to life. From the first note we are treated to a meticulously selected set list from their near 30 year catalogue.
Who ever decided on opening with Loco into Fiend into Big Truck obviously knows what fans want. Each track going harder, louder and more energetic.
We were last treated to fresh Coal Chamber in 2015, the stand out track being IOU Nothing which goes down very well with the crowd mostly here for the early 00s hits. Dez Fafara stalked the stage like a man possessed, somehow managing to be both ferocious and totally in control. Between songs, he connected with the crowd effortlessly, he is in a league of his own!
Tracks like Rowboat, Dark Days, and Something Told Me kept the energy surging, but it was hard to look away from drummer Mikey Cox, who looked like a wind-up toy on overdrive -relentless and captivating. The energy reached its peak as Dez rallied the crowd to chant, ‘the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire’ with him. Beckoning in the staple Coal Chamber hit, Sway. Coal Chamber played 14 tracks over an hour, an absolute gift for longtime fans. But the nostalgia was just getting started.
The 30-minute intermission barely felt like five, thanks to the sea of old friends and wide-eyed disbelief that this tour was actually happening. Mudvayne and Coal Chamber. In Australia. In 2024. Madness.
Mudvayne come running out of the gate right on 9.30 with Not Falling opening the set like a sucker punch. As vocalist Chad Gray kicks things off with his iconic scream, bass player Ryan Martinie takes a tumble, his riser sliding on the stage floor. No injury could stop him, though. The man is a kinetic force, and for the rest of the night, he gave nothing less than everything.
If you asked most Mudvayne fan their seminal album, you’ll more than likely get the answer of 2001’s LD50. It was an incredibly important album of its time and influentials and plethora of bands.
For the next few songs, fans of LD50 were beyond ecstatic with Internal Primates Forever, -1, Severed and Death Blooms each one a cornerstone of Mudvayne‘s legacy, all met with monstrous cheers.
Mudvayne have been this reviewers favourite band for more than half her life, hearing these songs tonight is truly special and hearing ones almost 25 years old is a treat!
World So Cold brought a sudden hush to the venue as Chad Gray stood in his demonic corpse paint and asked the crowd to light up the room with their phones. It was a moment of surreal beauty amidst the chaos. There were tears – mine included.
The New Game was a favourite amongst fans as it was the first Mudvayne album released after the formation of HellYeah, in which both Chad and Greg were part of. Title track, Fish out of Water and Dull Boy had many singing along. But it was Under My Skin from LD 50 that sent the room into a frenzy. The moment the riff dropped, the crowd bounced like it was 2001 all over again.
Then came the chilling highlight, Nothing to Gein. Based on the life and crimes of serial killer Ed Gein, the song’s climax saw Chad crouched on his riser, rocking and screaming “soiled dirty boy!” over and over. The band built the tension until it exploded in a final, vicious breakdown. Drummer Matt McDonough played like he was trying to crack the Earth in two. The emotion portrayed by Chad Gray on stage is unlike any other artist. He leaves every last ounce on stage, and gives his heavy metal family all he can no matter which band he is playing in.
Mudvayne don’t bother with encore games. They deliver and destroy in one straight shot. Only two questions remained.
The first, ‘are you happy?’ To summon in the chart topper Happy? from 2005’s Lost and Found. Friends threw arms around each other, the pit bounced, and Greg Tribbett loomed stoically over the crowd, spikes in his hair, face paint stark against the lights, black goggles hiding his eyes like some metal crypt keeper.
Chad sauntered from one side of the stage to the other, teasing the question before bellowing it to the whole crowd: ‘CAN..YOU..DIG IT?!’. My smile reaches my ears (or so it feels) hearing the crowd sing Dig as loud as they possibly can until the final note.
Although it is abundantly clear the show is over, it doesn’t stop the ‘one more song’ or ‘10 more songs’ chants at different points of the venue, all joining into one.
Tonight will go down as one of those shows, one you tell stories about for the rest of your life. Coal Chamber were the perfect foil, adding aggression, nostalgia, and charisma in equal measure. And Mudvayne? They proved that not only do they still have it – they never lost it.
Though the headliners left their mark on each person tonight. Mudvayne have not toured here since 2006, tonight had been a long time coming. All in attendance made sure to embrace every moment and even selling out the merch table! Monitor and sound issues may have dampened a few moments but none of it mattered. Mudvayne gave us everything. They left blood, sweat, and soul on that stage.
This may be the last time we see Mudvayne on Australian soil. Outside of North America, we’re the only country lucky enough to witness this reunion live.
That’s not just special – it’s historic.
Thank you to The Phoenix team for making this dream a reality.
I thought I’d only ever experience this in my dreams. I’m so glad I was wrong.
