Last night, I headed out to Union Pool to check out the two Brent Hinds (Mastodon) side projects. I arrived a little after doors opened, and as soon as I walked in, I was greeted by a bunch of dudes in kabuki masks. I found my buddy Axl Rosenberg of MetalSucks greeted me with a simple phrase, "This band is awesome." That was no understatement. I proceeded to get my mind blown by this psychedelic instrumental quartet who go by the name Daikaiju. The music very much reminded me of something I might hear Buckethead play, and at times it sounded like The Mars Volta. But make no mistake, there was nothing derivative here. These guys could play their instruments and put on a fanstatic show. All the while they never said a word. They simply mimed signals at the end of each song requesting applause for certain band members and then bowing in appreciation of the applause. The guitarist would have no problem jumping into the crowd to dance with the people in attendance.
It was a fun time, and very rarely am I this blown away by a band anymore. While I really enjoyed both of Brent Hinds' bands, they didn't capture my attention nearly as much as Daikaiju. Once I got home, I did a bit of research (checked their MySpace page) and found that they are from Huntsville, AL. They have two records, a self-titled, and Phase 2 which they just released. I have embedded below the most memorable track from last night's performance. Take a listen and if you dig it, support these dudes, they deserve it.
