Ill Niño – 15 Years of Revolution Tour at Studio 7

Ill Niño is an American metal band formed in New Jersey in early 2000. The group currently consists of Cristian Machado (vocals), Dave Chavarri (drums), Lazaro “Laz” Pina (bass), Ahrue Luster (lead guitar), Diego Verduzco (guitar), and Oscar Santiago (percussion). The band is currently touring to celebrate the 15^th anniversary of their debut album, Revolution/Revolución, which made a stop at Studio 7 in Seattle.

Getting the evening started was local prog-metal band Casualty of God. The band, which consists of Chris Renshaw (vocals), Jeff Eason (bass), Cody Green (guitar) and Dylan Bennet (drums), got the early crowd primed up for rest of the evening’s entertainment.

Next on the bill were Saint Diablo, who is made up of Tito Quinones (vocals), Justin Adams (guitar), Brian Bush (drums), and Tyler Huffman (bass). They are currently touring in support of their latest release ‘Devil Horns and Halos’. Mixing songs from their debut album Republica and their self-titled sophomore effort Saint Diablo as well as ‘Devil Horns and Halo’, the band put on a solid and very tight performance, winning over fans who may have never heard of the band.

The identities of horror metal band Terror Universal are kept secret; they go by their stage names of PLAGUE (vocals), MASSACRE (drums), DIABOLUS  (lead guitar) and THRAX (guitar). The band tore into heavy cuts such as ‘Welcome to Hell’, ‘Dig You a Hole’, ending their set with a cover of Rob Zombie’s ‘Super Beast’. The band put on a solid performance. Any other band that would have to follow them would be facing a difficult task of also delivering a solid performance. But not the next band. They welcome such challenges.

In direct support were Bobaflex, which consists of Shaun McCoy (vocals / guitar), Marty McCoy (vocals / guitar), Dave Tipple (guitar / backup vocals), Tommy Johnson (drums) and Jymmy Tolland (bass).  Bobaflex, are touring in support of their latest release, Anything That Moves, opened their set with ‘Start a War’ and quickly launched into ‘Chemical Valley’ and ‘Pretty Little Things’. The set was divided, with the first five songs sung by Shaun McCoy, while his brother Marty took over the remaining set, starting with ‘Never Coming Back’, followed by ‘Bad Man’, ‘Spider In the Dark’ and ‘Losing My Mind’. The band mixed songs from their earlier releases such as Charlatan’s Web and Hell in My Heart, which had everyone in the crowd wanting more as the set came to an end.

Ill Niño kept the Thursday evening Seattle crowd happily entertained as they worked their way through Revolution/Revolución in its entirety. With songs such as ‘Unreal’, ‘Rumba’, ‘Loco’ and ‘With You’, Ill Niño had the crowd singing at the top of their lungs, head banging, slam dancing and swaying to the groove of their brand of Latin influenced heavy metal. Some of the songs required chord changes and quick transitions, which was solved by having a guitar tech working in the background setting up a pre-tuned acoustic guitar that was easily in reach of lead guitarist Luster.

Fans familiar with Revolution/Revolución eagerly anticipated the faster songs and mosh pits would break out often. Vocalist Machado would comment, “Your numbers are small but, your hearts are huge!”

After playing each track off of their debut album, Ill Niño ended the evening with a solid four song encore that had the Seattle crowd wanting more.

Ill Niño Setlist
Intro – God Save Us
If You Still Hate Me
Unreal
Nothing’s Clear
What Comes Around
Liar
Rumba
Predisposed
I am Loco
No Murder
Rip Out Your Eyes
Revolution/Revolucion
With You

Encore
Te Amo…I Hate You
Cleansing
This is War
How Can I Live