Celebrating the tenth anniversary of their highly acclaimed album, The Joy Of Motion, Animals As Leaders recently took their Joy Of Motion X tour to a sold-out show at the Royale in downtown Boston. They were joined by fellow modern Prog Metal powerhouse Plini as their opener, ensuring a full night of total instrumental shreddery.
Animals As Leaders – Plini
Royale, Boston, MA – 16 November 2024
Words And Photography: Emmy Barone
By 8:30 pm the Royale was packed, and it was clear that there were many aspiring young musicians attending that night from Boston’s nearby Berklee College Of Music.
Plini
Plini’s opening set felt more like a headlining show with the already packed and ecstatic crowd. The energy was electric from the first song of Plini’s set to the last, with soaring guitar melodies that made it easy to get lost in the music.
The set was a perfect mixture of songs from across Plini’s discography, opening with the song The Red Fox from his most recent EP Mirage, as well as multiple tracks from his albums Handmade Cities and Impulse Voices.
As the ambient intro build from hit song Electric Sunrise began, Plini was met with cheers from the audience that only continued to build as the band kicked into the main intro riff of the song. It felt like an unspoken celebration of music nerdiness as the crowd headbanged along to the riff in 13/8 time.
Plini and Co exuded a calm confidence onstage as they demonstrated nothing less than total technical mastery of their instruments. As they came around to the last song in their set, it was clear the crowd wanted more.
Animals As Leaders
The stage was set for Animals As Leaders, and as they arrived on the low-lit stage wielding their 8-string guitars, they began the clean and ambient intro from the first track from Joy of Motion, Ka$cade.
There was an explosion of stage lights and sound, as well as energy from the crowd, as the heavy intro riff kicked in. The three-piece band, consisting of Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes on guitar and Matt Garska on drums, brought an explosive and captivating sound.
The band then went on to play through their entire Joy of Motion album, featuring songs like Physical Education, Tooth And Claw and The Woven Web. There was a continuous mosh pit that went on for just about every song in the set, and the energy level of the crowd only grew as the set went on.
Physical Education in particular was an incredible song to experience live, as the crowd loudly sang along to the main guitar riff of the song, which was something I had never experienced before at an instrumental concert.
Another standout song was Para Mexer, which brought the show to a new place sound-wise and showcased both Tosin and Javier’s virtuosity on nylon string guitars.
After closing with the last track from the Joy Of Motion, Nephele, the stage darkened and the band left for their encore. The crowd chanted for their return, and the band did not disappoint, coming back and bringing on an encore set of four songs from some of their other albums.
Their final four songs included The Brain Dance, Ectogenesis, Red Miso, and finally ending with Monomyth. Plini was invited back onstage for a guest solo on their first encore song, The Brain Dance, and it was incredible to get to hear a fusion of their musical styles.
From start to finish, the entire show was a demonstration of total Prog Metal mastery and flawless live renditions of every track.
There was such a strong shared appreciation and passion between the bands and the crowd for both the virtuosity and musicality on display.
