The ‘Mega-Monsters Tour 2023’ rolled into Virginia Credit Union Live! in Richmond, VA Tuesday night giving fans a great night of heavy metal. The tour kicked off April 18th in Portland and features co-headliners Gojira and Mastodon with special guest Lorna Shore. The Richmond show was one of the last couple of shows left on this leg of the tour which will see both Gojira and Lorna Shore head to Europe for June and July before picking back up with Mastodon in August to continue the ‘Mega-Monsters’ tour the tour will wrap up on September 2nd in Denver.
New Jersey’s Lorna Shore kicked things off for the night with a short but super heavy thirty-five minute set. The guys are out touring in support of their 2022 release, Pain Remains, and the night’s setlist was made up of only material from the latest release. Fans can look for Lorna Shore to return to Virginia this September for Blue Ridge Rock Fest.
Gojira and Mastodon have been rotating the role of headliner on this tour, and on Tuesday it was Gojira up first. By the time Gojira took the stage around 8 the pavilion was full. The guys played a thirteen song set, which lasted just over an hour. Gojira are still touring in support of their 2021 release, Fortitude, and the night’s setlist saw five tracks from the album. Gojira’s production on this tour is top notch and could rival any major arena tour. The stage has large LED backdrops and panels displaying various pictures and videos thru out the performance, as well as plenty of pyro. The set kicked off with “Born for One Thing,” prior to the second song “Backbone” vocalist Joe Duplantier took a moment to thank Randy Blythe of Lamb of God for all the years of support and help he has shown the guys, shortly thereafter Randy joined the guys on stage for “Backbone.” There were plenty of mosh pits during the set and crowd participation in particular for “The Chant.” The set was split in half with a drum solo by Mario Duplantier, giving the rest of the guys a breather before getting back into things with “Grind.” “Silvera” saw the most pyro of the night and the closing song, “The Gift of Guilt” saw showers of sparks fall from the rafters several times during the closing song.
Mastodon closed the night out and shared much of the same production as Gojira. The band took to the stage at about 9:40 and played a seventeen song set. The set list was a good mix of the band’s eight studio albums. Gojira’s Joe Duplantier returned to the stage for Mastodon’s closer, “Blood and Thunder” to end the night.
All three bands had plenty of merch, including signed vinyl and posters. This is a tour you want to put on your calendar as a don’t miss.
Lorna Shore Setlist: Show: 7:00 pm – 7:35 pm
Sun//Eater
Cursed to Die
Into the Earth
Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames
Pain Remains II: After All I’ve Done, I’ll Disappear
Pain Remains III: In a Sea of Fire
Gojira Setlist: Show: 8:00 pm – 9:10 pm
Born for One Thing
Backbone (with Randy Blythe)
Stranded
Flying Whales
The Cell
The Art of Dying
Drum Solo
Grind
Another World
Silvera
Amazonia
The Chant
The Gift of Guilt
Mastodon Setlist: Show: 9:40 pm – 10:55 pm
The Wolf Is Loose
Crystal Skull
Megalodon
Divinations
Andromeda
Sultan’s Curse
Fallen Torches
Pushing the Tides
More Than I Could Chew
Aqua Dementia
Steambreather
Iron Tusk
March of the Fire Ants
Mother Puncher
Circle of Cysquatch
Crusher Destroyer
Blood and Thunder (with Joe Duplantier)
The Mega-Monsters Tour Dates:
Apr 18 Portland, OR Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Apr 20 Concord, CA Concord Pavilion
Apr 21 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
Apr 22 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theatre
Apr 23 Las Vegas, NV Virgin
Apr 26 Dallas, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Apr 28 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall
Apr 29 Austin, TX Moody Center
Apr 30 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre
May 2 Nashville, TN Municipal Auditorium
May 4 Boca Raton, FL Sunset Cove Amphitheater
May 5 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre
May 6 Atlanta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
May 7 Asheville, NC Harrah’s Cherokee Center
May 9 Richmond, VA Virginia Credit Union Live
May 10 Baltimore, MD Pier Six Pavilion
May 11 Reading, PA Santander Arena
Aug 9 Cincinnati, OH MegaCorp Pavilion
Aug 10 Cleveland, OH Jacob’s Pavilion
Aug 11 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE Outdoors
Aug 12 New York, NY Coney Island Amphitheater
Aug 13 Syracuse, NY OneCenter
Aug 15 Detroit, MI Masonic Temple
Aug 17 Toronto, ON RBC Echo Beach
Aug 18 Laval, QC Place Bell
Aug 19 Portland, ME Cross Insurance Arena
Aug 20 Boston, MA MGM Music Hall
Aug 23 Milwaukee, WI BMO Pavilion
Aug 25 Hammond, IN Horseshoe
Aug 26 Omaha, NE Westfair Amphitheater
Aug 27 Minneapolis, MN Waite Park Amphitheater
Aug 29 St. Louis, MO The Factory
Aug 30 Kansas City, MO Azura Amphitheater
Sep 1 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheater
Sep 2 Denver, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater
