December 8th, 2001
Lancaster, NH
Setlist:
Whispered Scream
Red Hat
Roses On the Floor
Before It's Gone
Freak Of Nature
Music Box
Happy Pill
A Certain Shade of Green (Incubus)
song 47
Carol of the Bells
Love Sucks
No Association (silverchair)
Encore:
Israel's Son/Madman (silverchair)
Details:
Lancaster Town Hall, with Pinion
By Matt Ingerson (matty_2002@hotmail.com)
What else can one say about the classic performance, which took place at the Lancaster Town Hall on Saturday, December 8, 2001, by Mantra and Pinion, than GOD DAMN? The show started with the freaky antics of Berlin band, Pinion. I’d never heard of them, but I’ll be damned if they didn’t put on a hell of a show. They were a great crowd primer for the night's feature act, with their heavy sounds comparable to that of Slipknot, Godsmack, and Korn. Pinion was supposed to play for about 45 minutes but pulled off an amazing hour and a half set.
Now, for the night's stars, Mantra. Lead guitarist, Owen Richter, is truly an artist. He longs to connect with the crowd and once he does, it’s over. With a little help from 2 fans, about 10 to 15 more joined in, creating, probably, the smallest mosh pit ever witnessed (shout-out to the injured, and just about smallest person in the pit, Matt Howell as he was wounded with a sizeable gash in the left eyebrow area as he banged heads with fellow mosher Ethan LaPlante - GO MATT!). As the concert went on, it got heavier and heavier. Owen is certainly out to get a message to the people and when he succeeds, he lets go and the music takes over. Drummer, Justin LaLonde, hammering out the beat to the mostly original songs, is also a creative individual. He seems to go with it, the sticks fall where they fall, never missing a beat. Justin said he wishes he could jump and drum at the same time. Alex Pendleton on bass... What to say about Alex. My take on him? A bomb, with a fuse, waiting to be lit. While watching Alex, it looks as if he wants to fly right out of his shoes. The torso-thrashing bassist is full of energy and is just waiting for the right time to explode. Towards the end of the concert, a more gentle approach was taken and the crowd stood in amazement as Owen belted out the loud lyrics to part of a song, instrument free. The jumpers stopped and eyes went to the stage. The feeling and emotion that he put into the words was stunning. This was my second Mantra concert and I hope not my last. I can’t wait until they play at WMRHS on Friday December 21, 2001. Hopefully we will get a little leeway in the department of movement. I know I can’t stand to sit still when the lights go up and this amazing trio takes to the stage and cranks out riff after hard riff of from the soul, rock and roll.
By Jordan Bessette psycho_b1tch@hotmail.com
We arrived at the show around 7:40 p.m., and waited for the doors to open. They let everyone in at 7:45, and everyone had to pay their three dollars on the way. The show didn’t start until 8:00, when Pinion took the stage for an awesome show. They played some pretty kick-ass songs, including a hit by Puddle of Mudd. They had cds for sale for only 5 dollars! Pinion played until about 9:00. That's when the real excitement began! Mantra took the stage, opening up with 'Whispered Scream’. It completely rocked! They play a lot of awesome songs such as 'Roses On The Floor', and 'Before It's Gone'. Their set list also included a cover of a Christmas song called 'Carol Of The Bells', and a brand new song called 'Happy Pill', which was yet another impressive display of talent. The whole show was very high-energy, with Owen’s non-stop antics, and the mini-mosh pit in front of the stage. They also played a couple of covers, which included 'A Certain Shade Of Green' by Incubus... which kicked ass! They ended the show with Silverchair's 'No Association', but the crowd had not yet had enough of Mantra! An encore was desperately wanted by the crowd, so Owen, Alex and Justin came back out and played one last song... a mix of Isreal’s Son and Madman by Silverchair. It was a great show!
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