Chelsea Grin – The Cabooze – Minneapolis, MN – April 21st 2023

Chelsea Grin with Carnifex – The Cabooze – Minneapolis, MN – April 21^st 2023

Review and photos by Sophiea Owen

It’s been a while since I had been to a metal show, and Chelsea Grin and Carnifex’s co-headlining tour gave me a stark reminder that I need to go to more of them. I arrived at The Cabooze to a line heading around the block; the place was already packed before the first band went on. I unfortunately wasn’t able to get in in time to see the entire opening band’s full set because of how crazy the line was, but I caught a few of Left to Suffer’s last songs and they sounded pretty great from what I was able to see and hear of them.

The second band, Ov Sulfur, came raging out to the stage with great energy. The crowd was already well warmed up, and mosh pits were already happening aplenty. I should have started counting at the beginning of the night how many times a circle pit was called for and executed.

By this time the crowd had been asked to move along the stage to accommodate all the people that were packed into this venue. It was honestly surprising how many people they were able to fit in there. It was packed, it was sweaty, and people were ready for the two headliners.

I’ve seen Carnifex before, but it’s definitely been a while. They impressed me once again with their vocals, energy, and heaviness. Their lead singer, Scott, is a force. His commandment of the stage and audience was unmatched. They have a ferocity that kept the crowd moving non-stop. There was even some bounciness in the riffs that you could almost dance to.

Lastly, Chelsea Grin took the stage, and the party kept going. Their lead singer Tom seemed so comfortable on stage, bouncing around and grooving between screaming his lungs out. The whole place was moving, the barricade was rocking; multiple different mosh pits were breaking out around the venue and stage divers were literally leaping over my head. It was awesome.

The thing I love about a metal show is the energy and support that the audience seemed to have for every single band. Metal seems to be a very unifying genre, and it’s lovely to see. I’m the one you’ll see smiling stupidly at a metal show because just watching everyone have the time of their lives to really heavy music is one of my favorite things.