Photo by KLowe Photography

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A Tuesday night show in Perth can go one of two ways – it’s either packed….or almost empty. Of course, the thought of seeing such an iconic album played in its entirety by the original founders was way too alluring to even consider staying at home and The Astor was completely sold out as hundreds of Sepultura fans gathered to witness Roots played live by the Cavalera brothers Max and Iggor.

Excitement was already quite high when Skindred took the stage opening with Under Attack, Rat Race and a quick version of Happy If You Know It before playing Doom Riff. “Tonight you’ll see some real fucking people!” lead singer Benji Webbe told the audience. “It’s Saturday night and we’re fucked and then they play this song as you get your 1^st pint!” as they broke out with the classic song Jump Around (House of Pain).

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Photo by KLowe Photography

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Webbe tried to work up the crowd and it took him saying “Are we in Sydney? Are we in fucking Paris? Are we in Spain?” and telling everyone that they were better before people reacted loudly enough. “Listen! I’ve got my mother here for the first time! Don’t make me look like a fuckhead!” before playing Pressure. “If you’re gonna stand up the front you gotta move!” he yelled. Ne’er a truer statement has been spoken. You don’t take up a much picketed spot at the front if you just want to stand there looking like a stunned mullet.

They finished Pressure with a cover of Back In Black (AC/DC) and also played Kill The Power, Machine and Nobody before introducing a special guest – Perth’s very own Ian Kenny (Karnivool and Birds of Tokyo) to sing War Pigs (Black Sabbath). “Hold up your shirt! Take off your shirt!” Webbe told everyone for their last song Warning and a breeze fluttered through The Astor as everyone helicoptered their shirts in the air.

While their unique brand of metal/reggae/punk/hip hop divided the audience somewhat, Skindred owned the stage, were a lot of fun to watch and they are brilliant at what they do. It seems they are one of those bands that you either love or hate. I, personally loved it and so did many other people there.

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Photo by KLowe Photography

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By now, the venue was just a sea of black shirts and there was a very familiar smell wafting up from the pit. The crowd was starting to get crazy and, while there was an overall good vibe to the place…you just knew it was about to get insane.

The men of the hour, Max and Iggor Cavalera finally came out to many screams and the pit went off from the second they started Roots Bloody Roots. And during Attitude? Well….seeing as there was a fight that had broken out at the front as one of ‘those guys’ insisted on pushing everyone aside that had been there from start made his way through. Security had their work cut out for them.

There were crowd surfers, one stage diver and many circle pits going on throughout the set. “Thank you very much Perth! From the Brazilian Jungle…..my brother Iggor!” and showing us why he is one of the living legends for Itsari. They had Skindred out for Ambush and walked off stage briefly after Engangered Species before just the Cavalera brothers came back out for Procreation.

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Photo by KLowe Photography

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“We want to thank you very much! You made this tour fucking amazing!” Max told everyone before doing a cover of Ace of Spades (Motorhead) and TNT (AC/DC). “This is the end of the night! End of the set…end of the Roots tour! You have one more task! OPEN UP!” He screamed as they ended the night with Fast Roots and the pit erupted into a massive circle pit. “We fucking love you! Thank you!”

For so many of us there, it would be the first time that we had seen Max and Iggor together and it was certainly the first time that we would see the entire album played from start to finish. Many of us there would have also had tickets to the Big Day Out in ’97 to see them live before they broke up. These are feelings that cannot be described. It’s one of those things that you had to live it, breathe it…feel the hot burn of disappointment when Max Cavalera left Sepultura and they had to cancel their appearance at the BDO so to finally see this album that helped shape so many of us there was something else. We thank you Max and Iggor for bringing this tour down under and fulfilling the dreams of our inner 17 year old selves. Another achievement ticked off the list.

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Check out Karen Lowe’s gallery of this show HERE

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AMNPLIFY – DB

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