 | Written and photographed by Alex Stojanovic (C) 2019 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com MARK MORTON w/ LIGHT THE TORCH and MOON TOOTH @ Lee's Palace Toronto, ON, Canada March 15, 2019 Presented by Inertia Entertainment |
2019 has started off as a pretty significant year for Lamb Of God guitarist Mark Morton, as he released his debut solo album Anesthetic, after it has been in the works for a while. The album features many guest musicians, such as David Ellefson (Megadeth), Alex Bent (Trivium), Paolo Gregoletto (Trivium), Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) and Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour). There's also an impressive list of guest vocalist on each track, like Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach), Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Chuck Billy (Testament), Josh Todd (Buckcherry), Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge), and the late Chester Bennington (Linkin Park). As I stated in my review of the album, the track "Cross Off", featuring Chester, seemed like the album's biggest selling point, and it's a great record from top to bottom.
Mark then announced a mini solo tour that would take place in March, hitting a handful on the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, along with co-headliners Light The Torch and special guests Moon Tooth. The third stop on the tour was Toronto at Lee's Palace. This is a venue that I never visited up to this point. For a Friday night, a really respectable turnout was expected, and it happened. While the venue wasn't filled to capacity, if I had to make an estimation, it seemed 80% full. Another standout moment about the night was that all the bands played sets that lasted for under an hour. In Mark's case, it's understandable, because he only has one album to draw from so far, and he's not doing any Lamb Of God material on this tour. I think that's a good thing because him playing material from his main band would've been expected. Simultaneously, he plays those songs all the time.
Mark then announced a mini solo tour that would take place in March, hitting a handful on the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, along with co-headliners Light The Torch and special guests Moon Tooth. The third stop on the tour was Toronto at Lee's Palace. This is a venue that I never visited up to this point. For a Friday night, a really respectable turnout was expected, and it happened. While the venue wasn't filled to capacity, if I had to make an estimation, it seemed 80% full. Another standout moment about the night was that all the bands played sets that lasted for under an hour. In Mark's case, it's understandable, because he only has one album to draw from so far, and he's not doing any Lamb Of God material on this tour. I think that's a good thing because him playing material from his main band would've been expected. Simultaneously, he plays those songs all the time.
| Kicking off the night was Long Island outfit Moon Tooth. As they were the first band, there was a respectable amount of people that arrived early to catch their set. From the first song to the last, their performance had my attention because they were incredibly tight, heavy and melodic, with some progressive elements thrown in. Even though the audience wasn't in mosh mode yet during their set, the crowd was headbanging, and they gave the band a good response. After seeing how well they performed and sounded, I'm interested in checking out more of their stuff, and seeing them again. Next up were Light The Torch, the co-headliners of the tour. As the band entered the stage, and in between the songs, fans cheered so loud as they displayed their love for Howard Jones, and he was so appreciative of the incredible reception. There were moments in between songs where he seemed speechless because of the reception. Speaking of Howard, it was my first time ever seeing him on stage, and he could have kept his stage presence level up at 10, but instead, he had his stage presence turned up to 15. He was constantly running back and forth across the stage and shaking his body to the rhythm of the music. It was like he had rocket fuel in his body. | MOON TOOTH Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
I'm sure that back when Light The Torch started out under its original name, Devil You Know, people were expecting the band to play Killswitch Engage songs, but they don't play one Killswitch song, or any song from the other members' former bands. By now, the fans have come to accept that. Some songs the band touched on in their set included songs from the two albums under the Devil You Know name, as well as the band's latest album Revival, like "The Bitter End", "Embracing The Torture", "Calm Before The Storm", "Consume The Damned", "Sound Of Violence", "The Way We Die" and "Die Alone".
| LIGHT THE TORCH Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | Closing out the night was Mark Morton. When you release a solo album with many different singers on it, and decide to take it on tour, the challenge is finding a singer that is able to interpret all the different vocal styles on the album. For this tour, Mark enlisted Mark Morales of Sons Of Texas to handle vocal duties. Morales also sang the song "Blur" on the album. In addition, the band is rounded out by Doc Coyle (Bad Wolves, ex-God Forbid) on additional guitar and backing vocals, Nick Villarreal (Sons Of Texas) on bass, and Art Cruz (Prong, Winds Of Plague) on drums. What a solid band they were. The band opened with "Back From The Dead", and touched on the entire Anesthetic album, because at the moment, it's all the music that they have, but it wasn't played in sequence. The rest of the setlist ran in the following order: "Save Defiance", "Sworn Apart", "Axis", "The Never", "Blur", "Imaginary Days", "Reveal", "The Truth Is Dead", and they closed out with "Cross Off". I just have to say that because Mark sings on the recording of "Imaginary Days", we all thought he would handle vocals live for that song, but he didn't. I just have to say that it did feel a little odd to see a headline set that lasted just under an hour, because that's somewhat of a rarity. |
| Overall, it was a great way to spend a Friday night, with some great music and some great bands. If Mark's current solo tour hits your city, be sure to check it out. At this point, it's not known whether there will be more solo shows to come from Mark, as Lamb Of God have a busy spring and summer touring schedule supporting Slayer in North America and Europe, and they are working on their next album. However, keep your eyes and ears open for announcements on possible future solo shows, and go catch it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Remember, don't expect Mark and the band to play any covers at these shows, especially Lamb Of God songs. MARK MORTON Mark Morton - Guitars Mark Morales - Vocals Doc Coyle - Guitars & backing vocals Nick Villarreal - Bass Art Cruz - Drums Label: WPP Records / Spinefarm Records Website: www.markmortonmusic.com | MARK MORTON Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
| LIGHT THE TORCH Howard Jones - Vocals Francesco Artusato - Guitars Ryan Wombacher - Bass Mike Sciulara - Drums Label: Nuclear Blast Records Website: www.facebook.com/LightTheTorchOfficial | MOON TOOTH John Carbone - Vocals Nick Lee - Guitars & vocals Ray Marte - Drums & vocals Vin Romanelli - Bass Label: Unsigned Website: www.moontoothny.bandcamp.com |
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