Machine Head live to defy expectations. Amidst a set that could well define metal bluster, boasting jets of flame, fireworks and enormous circle pits aplenty, Robb Flynn suddenly brings everything to a grinding halt.
Strapping on an acoustic guitar, he introduces Darkness Within with an explanation that the song’s megadome baiting vocalisation was envisioned as a way of connecting fans through music who might be battling grief. He then dedicates the song to PR megastar Michelle Kerr, who looked after Machine Head for “[their] whole careers” and passed away in 2024, finishing the thought with an insistence that the field be lit by phone torches as “there’s enough darkness in the world already.”
