Dozer/Gozu/Legions Of Doom/High Desert Queen Live 9/13/24

Live at Widowmaker Brewery in Braintree, Massachusetts, USA *September 13th 2024*

For over twenty years I’ve waited to see Dozer live. I became a fan back in 2003 when Call It Conspiracy came out and have been following and listening to them ever since. I was super excited when the band reunited and released last year’s masterpiece, Drifting In The Endless Void (review here). Finally, the stars aligned and the universe has answered my prayers. Dozer was coming back to the United States! I was elated when I heard about this show and couldn’t believe the killer lineup. There was no way in hell that I was going to miss the opportunity to see them. I have never been to the Widowmaker brewery before in Braintree, Massachusetts. The commute was an hour and fifteen minutes from New Hampshire. My wife Jen and I arrived at the venue just as the doors opened, around 7:00pm. I didn’t want to miss any part of this event.

High Desert Queen from Austin Texas, were the opening act. The band are fairly new to me. I just recently discovered them several months ago when I heard their latest album, Palm Reader (review here). I really like this record a lot! I was very excited to see them live and positioned myself in the front of the stage. The band went on at 7:30 sharp and the place was still fairly sparse. However, it did not matter one bit. High Desert Queen started their set with “Ancient Aliens”, the ass kicking first song on Palm Reader. The sound was killer! The band played so well and were super tight throughout the whole set. Jen and I looked at each other several times in their performance with wide eyes of amazement on our faces. Front man Ryan Garney sang his heart out and was full of energy and enthusiasm throughout. Guitarist Rusty Miller was amazing with his bluesy leads and crunchy guitar rhythms. Bassist Morgan (who is Rusty’s daughter) and drummer Phil Hook were locked in tight throughout. Hook was a savage behind the drum kit and even demolished a snare drum. The band performed “Time Waster”, “Head Honcho”, and “Palm Reader” with such conviction and ferocity. The songs sounded just as good or even better than the recorded versions. That’s the testament of a real live band. The final song on their short set was the closer on Palm Reader, “Solar Rain”. What a devastating way to close out the set! The song has the most brutal ending and vocalist Garney gave it his all in that performance. He went in the crowd and gave us big sweaty hugs. It was great and something I had never experienced before, from any band. Jen and I had huge smiles on our faces when the band finished. Truly amazing start to a spectacular show and one of the best opening bands that I have ever witnessed live.

Legions Of Doom were on next and featured some veteran musicians who are stoner doom heroes. The super group features members of The Skull (bassist Ron Holzner, guitarist Lothar Keller, and drummer Henry Vasquez), newest recruit and second guitarist, Scott Little (Leadfoot), and two powerhouse vocalists; Scott Reagers from St. Vitus and Karl Agell (Corrosion Of Conformity, Blind, Leadfoot, and Lie Heavy). The band opened up the set with the Corrosion Of Conformity classic “Dance Of The Dead“ from the 1991 Blind album. I almost lost my mind! The song immediately brought me back to my sophomore year in high school where I listened to this record constantly. I was so happy to hear this song again and Karl Agell sang it perfectly. The next song was “All Good Things” from the band’s brand new, released that day record, The Skull 3 (review here). After the song, vocalist Scott Reagers came on stage and sang two songs. The microphone had issues and you couldn’t hear the vocals on his first song. “Lost Soul” had better vocal results for Reagers. Legions Of Doom sounded really heavy and tight, musically. Agell returned and sang the first song on the new record called “Beyond The Shadow Of Doubt”. Reagers returned to sing The Skull classic, “For Those Which Are Asleep” from their 2014 debut album. Agell performed the final song from their set, the uber-classic “Psychotic Reaction” from Trouble. It was excellent and a wonderful way to show tribute to the doom legend vocalist, Eric Wagner. Another nostalgic song and a great cap to a very memorable performance. I met up with my friends Justin and Jen when Legions Of Doom finished and chatted with some other old friends too. 

Boston’s own Gozu, took the stage next and delivered a devastating set! It was all systems go for the band and they played with high energy the whole time. “Big Casino” from the band’s third album 2016’s Revival, was performed incredibly. Gozu played “Bald Bull” from their second record, 2012’s The Fury Of A Patient Man, which was awesome too! The band performed songs from their latest monster album, 2023’s Remedy (review here). “Tom Cruise Control”, “Rambo 2”, “Ben Gazzara Loves No One”, and the set  finisher, “Cldz.” It had been nearly a decade since I last saw Gozu live and I was pleasantly impressed. They really owned their set and displayed a high caliber of heavy riffing throughout. Lead guitarist Doug Sherman was exceptional with his leads and full on energy. Marc Gaffney’s vocals and guitar playing were spot on also and Joe Grotto delivered the low end with precision and drive. Drummer Seth Botos was hard hitting and rock solid too. I thoroughly enjoyed the band’s performance and was happy to finally hear their heavy live sound once again. 

Finally, Dozer was up as the final installment of heavy riff rock savagery. At this point, my system was flooded with adrenalized endorphins. I claimed my spot in the very front and got to witness one of the best live experiences of my life! They were simply amazing! I couldn’t have been more excited during their stellar performance. The band opened up with “Drawing Dead”, the first track off of 2005’s Through The Eyes Of Heathens. Full on energy and explosion from Dozer!  “Mutation/Transformation”, the first song from their latest, Drifting In The Endless Void was next and sounded incredible also. Sebastian Olsson was insane behind the drum kit! I think he’s one of the best drummers out there today. The crazy drum fills with flawless timing are amazing to witness live throughout all of Dozer’s set. The band then proceeded to play “The Hills Have Eyes”, the lead off track from the Call It Conspiracy album. Fredrik Nordin sounded fantastic on vocals and was having fun interacting with the crowd. Everyone there was so appreciative of Dozer and we were all having a blast. “Born A Legend” from Heathens and then back to the Conspiracy album with “Feelgood Formula” were the next two songs. “Feelgood Formula” incorporated a nice long, jamming bridge part. Lead guitarist Tommi Holappa was unbelievable with his leads on this part and throughout the band’s whole set. He’s an extremely talented and exceptional musician and songwriter for all of his body of work with Dozer, and the equally impressive Greenleaf band. He was locked in with drummer Olsson (who is also in Greenleaf) the whole night and really drove the Dozer sound. Bassist Johan Rockner was very impressive with his abilities too and shined when the song “Rising” started playing. Dozer essentially played most of the set from Call It Conspiracy, Through The Eyes Of Heathens, and Drifting In The Endless Void albums, primarily. However, they did throw out a curve ball with “Calamari Sidetrip”, from the 1999 Split Release with Unida. It was insane! After that, the band played the next two songs from their latest record, “Ex – Human, Now Beast” and “Dust For Blood.” The final two songs came from the Heathens record again, “From Fire Fell” and “Big Sky Theory.” The band extended out the beginning of “Big Sky Theory” with the heavy pounding drums and when the riff finally kicked in, it was pure rock goodness! Dozer exceeded all of my expectations with this show and really delivered an awe inspiring performance. They totally ruled!!

Right after the set, I got to chat with guitarist Tommi, while my wife took a couple of pictures of us. It was surreal and he was super nice and friendly. I was also able to talk with vocalist Frederick and bassist Johan before I left. They were all very cool people and a pleasure to chat with. I handled out a bunch of Jam Yeti Music Blog business cards and bought a bunch of merchandise too. I felt like I was high on drugs, despite being stone cold sober the whole night. Music is truly a powerful drug for me and experiencing this show will be a memory that I will always remember and cherish.