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This metal concert at Place Bell was a big one as it was the last show of this lengthy tour for Meshuggah, In Flames and Whitechapel. For this special occasion they invited their good friends of Voivod to join the party so they could celebrate their 40th anniversary with them.

With the early start, we see that slowly and surely, people were filling the Place Bell as Whitechapel kicked things off with “Let Me Burn”. The fans that were already on the floor instantly started to push each other furiously once the show started. Being the first band of the night also meant that they did not have much wiggle room on stage, but that did not seem to bother them too much as they hammered the audience with their deathcore music. “We Are One” and closer “The Saw Is The Law” were the highlight of their short set as the fans demonstrated their enthusiasm for their music.

Voivod was up next and this was their only Montreal appearance on this tour in order to celebrate their 40th anniversary. With that in mind, they had to adjust their regular celebratory set for time constraints. They mainly kept all their old school songs and started with the iconic “Killing Technology”. You could immediately see that the older fans were banging their head to the music but that the younger ones were trying to wrap their head around what they were hearing. “Macrosolutions To Megaproblems” is another great oldie that made fans push themselves slightly. Daniel ‘Chewy’ Mongrain and Dominique ‘Rocky’ Laroche were always on the move and took advantage of every inch that was available to them. It was great to see the band dive deep in their catalogue and play songs like “Fix My Heart” and “Thrashing Rage” once again after all these years. That really ignited the fans and got them to push each other furiously. I still remember the feeling I had when I heard their cover of “Astronomy Domine” when it came out and it gave me the same chills once again when they played it. As usual, Denis ‘Snake’ Bélanger dedicated the song to Denis ‘Piggy’ D'Amour. The song ‘Voivod’ ended their short set as the fans went ballistic on the floor. It was the perfect ending for this 40th anniversary tour.

It was now time for In Flames to come on stage and really ignite the crowd. Their set started with the acoustic introduction of “The Beginning Of All Things That Will End” and they immediately followed with “Foregone Pt. 1”. Fans started to push each other furiously as Anders Fridén mentioned that Montreal never disappoints. He added that finishing this tour in Montreal was the best Christmas present they could get. The sound and the visual effects were perfect and fans were getting crazier on the floor as the show progressed. Anders asked the fans to do a circle pit during “Behind Space” and he got it, he was even surprised by its size. “Cloud Connected” was another song that that gave energy to the crowd and you could see the band loving how they were reacting. Björn Gelotte and Chris Broderick were very dynamic on stage and were surgically precise with their riffs. Newcomer Liam Wilson did a fantastic job on bass and he did not feel lost or overwhelmed on stage. Fans started to chant the traditional Olé Olé Olé but Anders interrupted them quickly, stating they loved it, but they did not have time to indulge this celebration fully. Their set ended with the songs “I Am Above” and “Take This Life” and Anders thanked the fans once more and said that they will be back.

It was now time to see Meshuggah in Montreal once again after all these years. The band chose many pop songs to play during the changeover and “Careless Whisper” was finally heard, indicating that things were about to get serious. The band started to play “Broken Cog” on the dark stage and you could only see the band members when the strobe lights were on. The musicians were standing still in front of lighted panels and even if this created an intense and eerie atmosphere, we could see that the fans were somewhat puzzled, waiting an explosion that was not going to happen. As usual, the band is not very dynamic on stage and prefer to have their music be the highlight of their performance. They also use tons of strobes and back lighting to create and dark atmosphere, but that also means that you don’t see much on stage. Fans on the floor did not really mind that as they were pushing each other furiously. It was particularly brutal during the songs “Rational Gaze”. I was very surprised to see a regular flow of fans leaving the venue from the halfway point of their set. That being said, the fans that were still here truly enjoyed songs like “Future Breed Machine”, “Bleed” and “Demiurge”. This was another great performance by this Swedish band and even if they did not interact a lot with the fans, you could see the smiles on their faces as the crowd demonstrated their appreciation for their music.

This was a great night and you could see that the fans really enjoyed their last concert of 2023.