11 Nov 2012 // A review by terry666
I had been lucky enough to witness 8 Foot Sativa in Auckland opening for Fear Factory just a few weeks before they started their nationwide comeback tour. It was an impressive show which left no doubt in people's minds that 8 Foot was back stronger than ever and ready to shred it across the country once again.

They had played a few shows before the Auckland show and were also coming to Palmy so I was chomping at the bit in anticipation of seeing them again after only seeing them a few weeks before. When they were in their early years they had toured relentlessly and it paid off as they grew a solid fan base and they were all ready to step up. They have played about six times in Palmy previously but never at The Royal which is smaller than other Palmy venues they have played at but that didn't hamper things at all.

The Royal was the fullest I had seen it for ages in honour of 8 Foot Sativa and their first show back in the swamp for about 5 years. The air was electric. Opening acts Cephalopod and Bloodspray For Politics had pumped up the crowd with some high grade swamp metal. 8 Foot Sativa got a lot of people interested in the kiwi metal scene when they were last active, which stepped up the amount of young people wanting to play metal music in this country. The on flow affect of this is that we now have a lot more metal bands of higher quality and getting more exposure thanks to bands like 8 Foot's success.

8 Foot took to the stage after the chants of the crowd calling them out for a good ten minutes had finally become intolerable for them. The set list was comprised of songs from their first 2 albums which were the albums that Jackhammer had featured on which suggests it was their best work. I prefer Jackhammer's style as he has a unique vocal style which is much more than just death growls which are awesome but it's nice to have a singer you can hear and scream along with. They gave us a solid hour of all the classics including Seasons for Assault, Before Your Suffering, Religions To Suffer and Believer. Jackhammer is a great example of how a front man should act and be with his onstage banter and by the time we got to Hate Made Me and self-titled track 8 Foot Sativa the crowd was going absolutely nuts. When I saw them in Auckland I had just watched and taken it all in, but this show I wasn't about to hold back and the hair came out and the neck started to twitch as head banging took over. As any true head banger knows it's not something you can control it's just something that takes over and man did I let loose. I haven't had a great mosh like that for a long time and man was it fantastic. Gary smith looked awesome with his long hair and wreaked havoc with his heavy grooving riffs and blistering lead breaks. Jackhammer even joined in the fun and during the song Fuel Set he jumped into the crowd and did some crowd surfing which I can't say I have seen anyone do successfully at The Royal ever. The show ended with the songs Destined To Be Dead and Chelsea Smile, the crowd was screaming for more but alas it was good night from the Sativa boys.

Another thing that I have always loved about 8 Foot is their interaction with their fans. On many occasions have I seen them out in the crowd after a show chatting, signing stuff and having a drink with you. I left about 2 in the morning after hanging out in the bar and watching their fans have their moments with the band which as a fan is always a very cool thing. It was awesome to see that they haven't lost touch with that. I have heard a rumour that they will be back in the swamp very soon again and I can't wait to let my hair out again and mosh my little heart away.

Exploding out of West Auckland in 1998, 8 Foot Sativa have gone from being a local band playing every week, to becoming the premier Metal band in New Zealand.

They are the first metal band in NZ to crack out of the small scene and bring New Zealand Heavy Metal to mainstream Kiwi's doorsteps, with the song 8 Foot Sativa staying at number 1 for three months and eight months in the charts. They have also had success overseas, in Australia, USA and Europe. With their first album Hate Made Me achieving Gold Record status, the follow up with Season for Assault, which established 8 Foot Sativa as a household name. Since then they have released 4 more albums Breed The Pain, Poison Of Ages, The Shadow Masters and 10 Years Of Sativa.

8 Foot Sativa have played with the big names of metal including Pantera, Motorhead, Korn, Children of Bodom, Disturbed, Soul Fly, Shihad and Corrosion of Conformity. They have had 2 Big Day Out appearances on the main stage, sharing the stage with Slipknot, Metallica and System of a Down.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for 8 Foot Sativa

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