M'Lou Elkins
Deafheaven
w/ Trauma Ray, Gatecreeper
5/4/25 – Majestic Theater – Madison, WI
©Justin Nuoffer/NuofferMedia.com
The Badger State was enjoying one of its few gorgeous days in a while. The sun was shining brightly. Light rays gleamed off the state capitol, and people filled the streets. The hustle and bustle was a welcome sight. Outside the historic Majestic Theater, a line formed and stretched up King Street toward the Capitol Circle. The red-bricked building looked glorious in the sunshine. The vintage marquee hanging off the front of the building read “Deafheaven” in bold block lettering. Below, the glass doors opened, and the security check was busy ushering folks through.
As you enter, you can go left to the balcony seating or the opera boxes. Otherwise, you are guided straight ahead into the main room. A massive bar wraps around the left-hand side and has standing room spots in front of it. Straight ahead, you head down to three different tiers of standing room on the way to the main general admission flooring. To the right is the tour merchandise and a ramp that runs along the wall to the main floor. The stage is roughly three feet high and is made up of beaten and stained hardwood. The old vaudeville theater has had a long life and has seen its fair share of amazing performances. Those marks in the wood are the building’s history, and every show is a new chapter. Tonight, it is Deafheaven’s turn to add to it.
Kicking off the evening is Trauma Ray. The Fort Worth, Texas, five-piece is a fine combination of shoegaze and doom metal. A quick thirty-minute set time didn’t allow them to flex their might completely, but you felt and absorbed the impact of what they could perform.
Trauma Ray released Chameleon in October of 2024 and spent their time performing tracks from it. The stage was bathed in a slimy green color and never changed. The songs were met with enthusiasm despite the dark lyrical content. Stories about death and the various ways it comes along were prominent if you listened closely.
Check out our Trauma Ray concert photo gallery below:
Overall, their sound was unique to the billing, and the emotional toll was worth it. So much so that their merchandise area was filled with fans before they even left the stage.
Gatecreeper pulls no punches; they are straight-up American death metal from the deserts of Arizona. They released a much-loved full-length Dark Superstition in February of 2024 and haven’t looked back. They opened their time with 4 tracks from the new album: “A Chilling Aura,” “Caught In The Treads,” “Dead Star,” and “The Black Curtain.” The fresh material was well received. Chase Mason, the frontman, took notice right away. As he walked around with his microphone stand, he growled into it as he eyed the mosh pit right in front of him.
Anchored on each side of him are guitarists Eric Wagner and Israel Garza. Behind him are bassist Alex Brown and drummer Nate Arrebollo. This lineup has been together since 2021 and their cohesiveness shows up on stage. Despite the random green and purple lighting as the aesthetic, you can catch glimpses of them sharing looks and laughs. They managed to tear through and decimate the Majestic Theater crowd. The general admission floor was utter chaos. Bodies are flying across the area at an incredible rate as Gatecreeper delivers classics like “Patriarchal Grip,” “Rusted Gold,” and “Starved.”
Check out our Gatecreeper concert photo gallery below:
The final two tracks they had were very much the essence of the band. “Sick of Being Sober” was amusing, with Encino Man clips being sampled throughout. The sheer abusive nature of the song wasn’t missed either. The screaming and growling from the crowd were overwhelming at times. The infamous slow, sludgy intro of “Flamethrower” filled the ears. Gatecreeper seemingly saved the very best for last. It came off as the heaviest and bleakest possible version they’ve ever had. Gatecreeper is an S-tier performer. Very few death metal artists can physically abuse their faithful without ever touching them, and they accomplish that with relative ease.
It is unreal to see a band like Deafheaven performing at the Majestic Theater; it is a special treat. The venue is capped at between 600 and 700 people. On any other evening, they would fill up The Sylvee, just blocks away. However, having an intimate performance like this is mightily attractive, and the fans came out in droves. The venue was packed. When Deafheaven took the stage and rocketed into “Doberman,” the crowd looked like one gigantic shockwave had hit them. Rolling from front to back and around the balcony. The purveyors of blackgaze start at DEFCON 1. The blast radius was Madison, WI. The aftermath was a deep blue-colored stage with everything else blackened.
Vocalist George Clarke lives on the front lip of the stage. He unleashed vicious screams and screeches one after another with a crazed look on his face. Clarke had the Majestic in his hand, and he knew it. His movements were spur-of-the-moment and from a position of strength. Often, he put himself down in the faces of the onlooking faithful. The room very quickly turned into one gigantic sweatbox. The intensity and the masses filling every nook and cranny turned the room misty.
The pure, unfiltered power of Deafheaven was unmatched. The Majestic Theater hasn’t shaken like that in a very long time. Nearly all of the tracks performed were from the band’s brand-new release, Lonely People With Power. Sonically, the music connected. Kerry McCoy and fill-in Ian Waters took turns shredding through riffs out front and within fingertips’ reach of the fans. It was evident very early on that the showmanship of black metal has evolved, and Deafheaven is at the forefront of the movement.
Blasting through “Magnolia,” “Brought To The Water,” “The Garden Route,” and “Heathen,” the sheer magnitude of how perfect the new material translates to the live performance couldn’t have been missed. With a break in between soul-crushing songs, everyone was trying to catch their breath. Clark walked to the center of the stage and spoke earnestly, “We are playing my favorite song right now. I want to see you move. This is Amethyst.” As if the general admission floor needed another spark, it was lit.
There wasn’t much of an encore break, mainly a shirt change and water chugging. The back section remained focused on the new material with “Incidental II” and “Revelator” out of the gates. The vigor remained. There were no lulls. Especially when Deafheaven did dip back into the older material with “Dream House” off of Sunbather. The atmosphere amplified times ten. The song was, for many, their gateway drug into this brand of metal. All of the pain and emotion were there, and they were effortlessly absorbed into the body. The magnitude of their impact on American black metal was solidified when the track was released.
Despite all of that chaos unleashed, the best was saved for last. “Winona” took over the consciousness. The uncanny mixture of shoegaze and black metal was beyond well-received. The love the fans give out is near cult-like. Every word was followed and consumed. Deafheaven are masters of their craft. Whether it’s a live performance or a recording, they have full control of either medium, and it was obvious.
Check out our Deathheaven concert photo gallery below:
The Majestic’s lights began to lift once the final note rang around the room. The crowd that was packed in tighter than tight started to make their way toward the exit or the merchandise stand. The steamy air began clearing the closer you got to the doors. Fans looked exhausted and drained of energy. The body blows the bands delivered hit hard and left you wanting more.
This tour is a perfect combination of American metal at its finest. It had a bit of something for everyone. That chatter outside the venue was being talked about quite a bit. It was hard for people to pinpoint the best moment. That is the perfect sign of an amazing set of performances. This tour package added to the legacy of those hardwood boards that make up the Majestic Theater’s stage, and the cool night air that blankets Madison let that sobering impression resonate and sink in a little harder than normal.
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