BABYKLOK tour in Boston, MA – September 14, 2023

The Babyklok tour came to rock the faces off of fans within the MGM Music Hall at Fenway in the historic area of Boston, Massachusetts.  The tour featuring Japan’s BABYMETAL, and Adult Swim’s Dethklok, had support by metal guitarist, Jason Richardson.

Jason Richardson

Jason Richardson is a highly skilled and versatile guitarist known for his technical proficiency, innovative playing style, and ability to seamlessly blend various genres. Richardson was performing solo at this show, but he has been cementing his status as a guitar icon through his contributions to bands like Born of Osiris, Chelsea’s Grin, and All That Remains.

Richardson is renowned for his lightning-fast guitar playing, intricate tapping techniques, and complex riffs. His playing style incorporates elements of metal, progressive rock, jazz, and fusion, showcasing his diverse musical influences. His intense metal guitar playing was put on full display at this show with the song,“Tendenitiis”, and his melodic-style was showcased during the song, “Sparrow”.

Apart from his technical abilities and outstanding play at the MGM Musical Hall at Fenway, Richardson is known for his dedication to music education. He has shared his knowledge and expertise through online tutorials, masterclasses, and workshops, inspiring ambitious guitarists and musicians around the world.

Dethklok

Dethklok started out as the fictional death metal band from the animated television series, “Metalocalypse”, that originally aired on Adult Swim. Dethklok embodies the epitome of over-the-top metal excess. Although the cartoon is satirical, it is still an affectionate parody of the metal music industry. Also, despite the band originally only having a fictional existence, Dethklok has now become a genuine cultural phenomenon.

The band opened with “Deththeme” and continued on with “Briefcase Full of Guts”, both from their 2007 album, Dethalbum. In fact, 10 of their 17 songs of the night came from the Dethalbum album. Clearly, they wanted to give their long-standing and dedicated fans and let them live out some much loved nostalgia. During the show, the Brendon Small-fronted band was mostly blacked out, and there were clips from the Metalocalypse series playing behind the band. The multimedia show really helped to blur the lines between fiction and reality for fans of both the animated series and the metal genre, which was an interestingly smart choice.

BABYMETAL

The groundbreaking Japanese metal band, BABYMETAL, took the stage at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway and delivered their brand of heavy metal to a jam packed audience. Their sound defies conventional genre boundaries with their fusion of J-pop music and heavy metal. The group consists of three female members – Su-metal, Yuimetal, and Moametal – who effortlessly blend their infectious pop melodies with their band’s ferocious guitar riffs and thunderous drumming. They started off their set with the song, “BABYMETAL DEATH” and the three BABYMETAL women appeared in matching warrior-like costumes that were mostly black, but had pops of vibrant color. Their outfits were a perfect match and nod to their pop/metal style. BABYMETAL had high-energy choreography throughout the entire show and a stage presence that had captured the full attention of everyone in attendance. It was a truly unique experience listening to BABYMETAL blend the metal sounds fans are used to hearing with pop vocals. Of course there are other female fronted bands in the metal scene, but none do like BABYMETAL. They finished out their set with the song, “Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!” and “Road of Resistance”.

This was the first time many of the concert goers in Boston were able to catch this Japanese trio. Many were heard saying they cannot wait until BABYMETAL comes back to town and others are hoping to catch them at a festival soon.