Affectionately dubbed “The BABYKLOK Tour,” the infectious metal tandem of BABYMETAL and Dethklok descended upon the Hammerstein Ballroom this past Friday night (September 15) – a turn-of-the-century opera house located in Midtown Manhattan – for the twelfth stop on their 29-date trek across North America.
Providing opening support on this night, and for the entire tour, was 32-year-old guitar virtuoso Jason Richardson of Manassas, Virginia. Hours before the show, an eclectic recipe of fans lined West 34th Street in eager anticipation of the show, including anime girls in full costume, tattooed death metal fans, and conservative mothers and fathers with their teenage daughters.
The evening’s first co-headliner to appear on stage was Dethklok, both a virtual band featured in Adult Swim’s animated, dark comedy program Metalocalpse and a natural melodic death metal band created to perform in front of a live audience. The fictional members of the band, who were featured throughout the 16-song set in numerous dark and macabre animations on a huge monitor that functioned as the stage backdrop, include Nathan Explosion, Toki Wartooth, Pickles, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, and William Murderface.
The actual members of the band are comprised of Brendon Small (a co-creator of both bands along with Tommy Blacha), Gene Hoglan, Bryan Beller, and Mike Keneally. Also joining Dethklok in their live performances for this tour is Nili Brosh, an Israeli-American guitarist who has played with Steve Vai, DragonForce, and The Iron Maidens. Watch Dethklok perform “Bloodlines,” lifted from their 2009 studio album Dethalbum II, below:
Last to take the stage, but certainly not least, was the Japanese kawaii metal band (a musical fusion of heavy metal and J-Pop) known as BABYMETAL who are touring in support of their fourth album The Other One, a concept album released in March 2023. A trio of young women ranging in age from 20 to 25 years old, BABYMETAL formed in 2010 and is comprised of main vocalist Suzuka Nakamoto as “Su-metal,” Moa Kikuchi as “Moametal” and Momoko Okazaki as “Momometal” (the band’s latest addition).
With vocals backed by heavy metal instrumentation performed by a group of session musicians known as the “Kami Band,” BABYMETAL thrilled the sold-out 2,200-capacity crowd with a breathtaking routine filled with their own brand of non-stop, synchronized dancing, while at the same time willing their fans to harness raw, head-bang inducing energy. Watch BABYMETAL perform “PA PA YA!!,” taken from their 2019 studio album titled Metal Resistance Episode VII – Apocrypha – The Chosen Seven, below:
Dethklok Setlist: Deththeme > Briefcase Full of Guts > Birthday Dethday > Awaken > Bloodlines > The Gears > Hatredcopter > Dethsupport > Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle > Aortic Desecration > I Ejaculate Fire > The Duel > Murmaider > Thunderhorse > SOS > Go Into the Water
BABYMETAL Setlist: BABYMETAL DEATH > Gimme Chocolate!! > PA PA YA!! > Distortion > BxMxC > Believing > Monochrome > METALI!! > Megitsune > Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!! > Road of Resistance
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
09/20 – Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe
09/21 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
09/23 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life Festival
09/24 – Milwaukee, MN @ The Rave/Eagles Club
09/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore
09/27 – St. Louis, MO @ Saint Louis Music Park
09/28 – Omaha, NE @ Steelhouse Omaha
09/30 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
10/01 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
10/03 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
10/04 – Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theater
10/07 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
10/08 – Las Vegas, NV @ Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort
10/10 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theater
10/11 – Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
JASON RICHARDSON
DETHKLOK
BABYMETAL
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