Soulfly

Soulfly II feb 12 at the mod club theatre

I love that they started off with my new favourite Soulfly track, The Summoning. Or at least that is what I recall seeing them open with. They have so many good songs that would make for a show-starter, but this one really kicked ass.

It was awesome to see almost all of us on the floor go nuts during most of that song. The instrumentals on it are top notch. It was so awesome that I recorded about 2 minutes of them playing The Summoning and now I can watch it every day on my phone!

The next best part for me was when the played Prophecy. I believe Max lost his voice for a good bit of that track but the instrumentals made up for it. For as long as I have been into this band (15+ years), Prophecy has always been my fav track. This was the first time I saw them play it live.

The other best part for me was seeing them play Rise of the Fallen, almost everybody on the floor sang along with the chorus. The Omen album turned out 4-5 chart-topping tracks. I have been listening to the album in full since Soulfly last visited Toronto last year on St. Paddy’s Day weekend, but they were touring to support a different album under a different name. That almost made Tuesday night’s show at the Mod Club Theatre even more worth it for everybody b/c Soulfly played Soulfly songs for the full hour and a half.
The Soulfly set was preceeded by 3 other metal acts, not one of them had I heard of prior to Feb. 12 lol, but the last of them (Kataklysm) really kicked some ass. Those guys are from Canada and boy can they play. I don’t want to write too much about them b/c I don’t know anything but 2 of their songs really stood out for me: 10 Seconds from the End and the song they ended the set with, Outsider.

I didn’t know what to expect going into this concert. I had never visited Mod Club Theatre previously, only saw pics online. I wasn’t even 100% sure that there would be a coat check.

WEATHER
Making the trip in from Stoney Creek (the other side of Hamilton), it was a shitty day weather-wise. Most people on Facebook expressed concern regarding possible cancellations, event promotion company, Inertia Entertainment re-assured us that the show would go on. Soulfly was able to show up that night which pretty much meant that the show would go on, which was awesome.
It was not a lot of fun making my way through the soaking wet streets of downtown Toronto (University Ave/College St) it wasn’t just wet, it was freezing-rain wet). By the time I had arrived, both my boots were soaked. In fact, here I am 2 days later and they are still not completely dry yet lol, but it was so worth it.

Other interesting stuff from the night:
-coat check was only $4. If beer was expensive as it was, holy hell the coat check was a fucking bargain lol

-tall boy beers ranged from $11 each!!! Eleven bucks for a beer?!? Holy fuck! That is not a bargain! What the hell is this? A Blue Jays or Maple Leafs home game?? And that $11 simply gets you a Molson Canadian! They also had Heineken available too. I asked the bartender how much those were, yet it was too loud in there and I have no clue what she responded lol. If beers started at $11, don’t even wanna know how much the wine or shots were!

-Soulfly at the Mod Club was the first time I saw fights nearly break out. No idea wtf happened, but whatever started it made a stage crew guy jump off the stage to confront some guy who was clearly pissed off at something he did. Both guys were so ready to go at it with each other that a third guy jumped in as well. The third guy was one helluva large man, could beat the shit outta both other men. This went on for several minutes then everyone went their own way. Some people were not impressed with the stage crew guy.

SETLIST
A rough guess of the Soulfly set list from Toronto, goes something like this:
-the summoning!!!
-ritual
-babylon
-no (the song that mentions hootie and the blowfish)
-prophecy
-back to primitive
-fire/porrada
-rise of the fallen!!! That was awesome
-jumdafuckup
-eye for an eye

Jeff Schneberk

Rising from the depths of probably the most instrumental bands in the development of thrash metal Sepultura, following his departure Max Cavalera formed Soulfly in 1997. Utilising the familiar sound he had helped create, Cavalera fed it into the band making use of traditional Brazilian tribal and world music while fusing it with death metal. His vision for Soulfly was to incorporate the idea of merging spirituality with sound. Their debut self-titled album was released the following year reaching number 79 in the Billboard charts. Subsequently they have gone on to release a further 8 studio albums and although the line-up since its inception has changed several times, Max Cavalera remains constant.
Summer festivals are one the best environments to see Soulfly live, they certainly don’t do things by halves. Before they even arrive an eruption of smoke fills the stage, accompanied by an operatic soundtrack as the crowd chant “Soulfly! Soulfly” to which the band run on stage. Kicking off the set with “Babylon” and then into “Prophecy” as Cavalera’s signature deep roar resonates through the air. From the offset the crowd waste no time in jumping up and down with their devils horns high in the air as the brutal drum beats raise the tempo to maximum. The intense breakdowns combined with the fierce strobe lights ignites organised chaos with various circle pits opening up in the crowd as they fling their bodies round and round before merging into mosh pits.
Soulfly have no qualms about owning the stage, the crowd is at their command. Cavalera is an excellent frontman as he enthuses the crowd with an unlimited supply of energy. If you’d forgotten where they were from, there are gentle reminders on stage right from the Brazilian flag hung from the drum riser, to the colours of their plectrums and even down to their customised guitars. Of course you can expect to hear some Sepultura classics like “Roots Bloody Roots”, “Refuse/Resist” and “Troops of Doom” thrown in the mix- it’d be rude of them not to! There are moments of pure brilliance when Marc Rizzo shreds the guitar like his life depended on it, simply mesmerising.
From start to finish the crowds are in motion as waves of bodies travel across the crowd. It’s not surprising, Soulfly have the innate ability to take over your body for the duration of their set and allowing you to let go of all inhibitions. Whatever musical projects Max Cavalera is involved with, you can expect pure magic.

Having caught Soulfly in the same venue a couple of years back, I knew what to expect from the legend of metal, Max Cavalera. Lots of speaking the lyrics instead of singing, barely audible guitar and nepotism with regards to support.

Despite all this, Cavalera and Co. are still a hugely enjoyable spectacle, albeit with the crowd providing more accurate vocal renditions than the ageing Brazillian frontman appears capable off.

Australian support act King Parrot, on the other hand, were INSANELY GOOD. Visceral, evil, zany and grotesque all in the space of 20 minutes. Almost certainly the most exciting band I've seen in the last 12 months.

Max Cavalera is a living legend.
Maybe not in the best shape now, and looking a little tired, but he's still able to light the people, turning the mosh pit on with his voice and riffs.
His sons Igor Jr. (Bass) and Zyon (drums) are really skilled musicians, with a bright future.
Marc Rizzo is a monster, really able to keep the adrenaline high with his guitar.
Maybe many consider Soulfly a dead band. But I think it's really worth to see them live at least once.
I'm happy to have been there. Even if it's a pity that the club wasn't sold out.

It was absolutely fantastic. Honestly this night was unforgettable.The set list was carefully selected allowing us to share in their success over the years with a combination of their hits since the start of their career.
Thanks for everything.

Soulfly: what can I say absolutely amazing!! Always fantastic everytime I see them live can’t wait till next time. 5 stars looking forward to the new album Ritual! Happy to watch them in my home town on the last show in the Uk

Show was canceled and nothing was posted on songkick. It took me an hour and a half to get to the venue to find out it wasnt gonna happen! I should have stuck with my first choice and gone to the Hatebreed concert.

It was expected the have a special night.That was a great show with uncredible bands!!! I really enjoyed the night and the venue!!!I had no problem at all!!!!I hope we can have more shows like that.

Soulfly, Nike, & Misery Index KILLED IT! I haven’t seen Soulfly live, in 13 years and they’ve still got it! Max is a legend! If you ever have the chance to see them live, I highly recommend it!

It was freaking awesome! !!
One of the best shows ever...the venue was great bar staff and very friendly, can't wait to see Soulfly again, I wish they had kid sizes for the merchandise