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UPMC Events Center on the Robert Morris University campus was host to the Babyklok Tour 2023 featuring Dethklok, Baby Metal, and Jason Richardson on September 8th. A strange mix for a show, but oddly, it works. Pairing the guitar virtuoso stylings of Jason Richardson with the metal pop mix of Baby Metal and the cartoon chaos of Dethklok, this audience was in for a broad spectrum of what is metal for the night. This vast appreciation of metal could be seen in the crowd tonight, as there was a mass diversification of merchandise and costumes worn by the crowd, from anime to death metal band shirts and everything in between. It seemed like a lot of the elements of these genres were represented tonight.
Jason Richardson warmed the crowd up this evening, and with some backlights, a front platform at his disposal, and a guitar in hand, this crowd was in for something special. Richardson is a very accomplished and well esteemed guitarist in the scene, having worked with All Shall Perish, Born of Osiris, Chelsea Grin, All That Remains, and many other projects. I think a showcase of the performance was seeing the different variations of Jason’s signature Ernie Ball guitar as he would change guitars between songs. Some of the standouts were “Retrograde”, which had a backing track of Periphery’s Spencer Sotelo singing on the track, and also “Upside Down” which was co-written with the band Polyphia, before wrapping things up with “Ho’s Down”, a genre-blending amalgamation combining metal, jazz, and bluegrass.
Baby Metal took the stage next, engaging the crowd right off the bat with chants of B. A. B. Y. Metal! The front women of this band came out with high energy; from crowd work to choreographed dance moves, these women continued to smile ear to ear throughout the performance. Each song performance had vivid backdrops and lots of flashing lights to pair with the performance. There were times when there was so much going on that I didn’t know what to focus on first. The band was very tight and shined during their solo sections, holding down the rhythm for the night. Some of the standout performances were “Distortion,” featuring Alissa White Gluz of Arch Enemy and “Metali” which features Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine.
As the last band was getting set up, on the backdrop was a QR code for the latest Dethklok album, Dethalbum IV, so that attendees could listen to the album before the band would take the stage, something I have not seen before from a band. Closing the night out under the veil of darkness, Brendon Small and company took the stage to bring to life the audio stylings of “Nathan Explosion”, “Skwisgaar Skwigelf”, “Pickles”, “Toki Wartooth”, and “William Murderface to Life”. The crowd cheered as the Cartoon Network show was cast on the back screen and the band started off with the “Deththeme”. Dethklok played through several fan favorites, including “Murmaider” the “Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle”, and “Thunderhorse”, before closing out with “Bloodlines” and “Go Into the Water”.
If you are looking for a fun metal show to take in for the evening, make sure to check out the Babyklok tour 2023, which goes through October. This tour covers a wide array of metal and its subgenres, so there is a little something for everyone here.
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