Truckfighters w/Yawning Man, Tiny Bones, Eroder, and 88 Mile Trip
El Corazon, Seattle, WA
03.20.17
style=”text-align: left;”>A crowd of Seattle’s heavy metal types came out to see Swedish three-piece Truckfighters – touring in support of their fifth studio album, 2016’s V – tear up El Corazon with their heavy stoner rock. Having added more fuzzed out atmosphere to their sound of late, the band’s live set swung radically through some painfully heavy bass and fuzzy guitar while throwing in a melodic wail to make it all come together. The fans ate it up.
style=”text-align: left;”>While it was an all ages show, most of the crowd was populating the bar during the openers, from flannel-clad college kids to middle-aged rockers in leather. Between sets, a compilation of metal’s greatest hits flooded the room, think Ozzy and Judas Priest.
style=”text-align: left;”>That is, until experimental rock band Yawning Man came out for a five-song set. One guitarist was very calm, while the other hardcore rocked out to their grungy, psychedelic jams. A major influence in the desert rock scene, the four-piece got plenty of people out of the bar and made quite an impression on the crowd. It was an interesting to see their contrasting playing styles, the high-note guitarist as cool as a cucumber, the heavier guitarist head-banging and thrashing about the stage. They definitely earned a rousing round of applause at the end of their set.
style=”text-align: left;”>Then it was time for the main event. A Truckfighters logo banner draped the back of the stage, and the crowd finally filled out the room. Guitarist, Niklas ‘Dango’ Källgren’s pedal board was good yard long and foot deep, ready for his intense work to get underway. And work the stage he did, jumping, thrusting forward, playing behind his head, having an amazing amount of energy on stage. He ran to one far end to rock out before running to the other side to entertain the fans there.
Bassist, Oskar ‘Ozo’ Cedermalm, did most of the vocals, and played the neck of the bass a lot, rather than the body, occasionally jumping around. The band had really intense musical buildups and then they’d just go all out. Plenty of big dudes ran the mosh pit throughout the set, the band’s heavy, sludgy, fuzzed out sound – with melodic high-pitched guitar solos thrown in for good measure – providing plenty of material.
At one point, a guy climbed on stage to rock out with the band, the bassist and guitarist surrounding him and playing over him. He got on his knees to head-bang, flashing “rock on” symbols before climbing back into the audience to rejoin the mosh pit. The band played a few songs off their new EP, and taught people to “roar like Odin,” when they gave a flexing arm sign.
Truckfighters finished their set before coming out for a five song encore. And then, as a grand finale, the guitarist leaned into the audience, guitar out at 45-degree angle to his body, and 15 hands reach out to play the guitar with him. The whole time, his eyes were wide open, his tongue hanging out looking like a crazy person. Clearly the band was having as much fun as the crowd.
Truckfighters Set List
Mind
Monte
Calm Bef
Contract
Chameleon
Traffic Garga
Review and photos by Alex Crick
Truckfighters
