Rhythm and Riffs

Health Bring Their Rat-Based Warfare Tour To The Queen City

Health’s 2023 album Rat Wars was an amazing addition to an already impressive catalog and for fans of the band wanting their chance to hear them live, well the time is now. The Rat-Based Warfare tour is taking the band throughout the US and Canada offering their ravenous fans a chance to step out of the dark and into more dark, but this time with strobe lights. Joining them on this tour are the group Pixel Grip and musician/producer King Yosef, perfect complements for an evening of intense riffs, pounding beats, and waves of synth. 

Opening the night King Yosef entered the stage exploding into an assault of beats, screams, and ferocity. Delivering the heaviest vocals of the night King Yosef rolled through an intense set with the most “metal” feeling of the evening with a sparse stage set up of just a live drummer and music producer manning the electronic station and occasional guitar. 

Next on the bill Pixel Grip initially may have looked similar in noting their on-stage setup was basically the same as the previous set however their sound and performance were very unique to them. Their sound, while intense, is not heavy but mixes industrial synth sounds, beats, and catchy vocal hooks in a way that moves the crowd away from head-banging to swaying with the groove. Vocalist Rita Lukea grabbed the crowd with her intense stares guiding us through their performance and taking the crowd on a ride of sensual delight mixed perfectly with live drumming from Tyler Ommen and production from Jonathon Freund.

Giving the crowd a moment to catch their breath and allowing for anticipation to build our headliners for the evening, Health took the stage to a welcoming crowd. Bringing with them a stage set up that added a plethora of lighting and visual effects to the house set up at the Fillmore Underground the band established a visual experience that took their performance to the next level, as the headliner should. Performing a well-balanced mix of songs from their catalog the band even dropped in their cover of “Be Quiet and Drive” from the Deftones a personal favorite of mine. With driving rhythms, pulsing beats, heavy riffs, and airy vocals the band took us through an impressive set that delivered on the fans’ expectations and for me felt very well balanced between the heavy and the groove that they have so perfectly established as their brand of industrial metal. 

With a full calendar of dates ahead of them, Health is not slowing down in 2024. Taking their tour worldwide to Australia and performing a slew of festival dates in Europe the world will soon have a chance to catch them live and if you find that they are performing near you I cannot encourage you enough to make it out to their show.  

See the Full Gallery of the Night Here!

If you captured any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see. 

Tour Dates

Mon, MAR 25

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: DENVER

Englewood, CO

Tue, MAR 26

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: SALT LAKE CITY

Salt Lake City, UT

Thu, MAR 28

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: SEATTLE

Seattle, WA

Thu, MAR 28

SEATTLE AFTERPARTY :: JOHNNY_HEALTH DJ SET

Seattle, WA

Fri, MAR 29

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: VANCOUVER

Vancouver, Canada

Sat, MAR 30

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: PORTLAND

Portland, OR

Mon, APR 1

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: SACRAMENTO

Roseville, CA

Tue, APR 2

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco, CA

Thu, APR 4

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles, CA

Sat, APR 6

RAT-BASED WARFARE TOUR :: SAN DIEGO

San Diego, CA

Fri, APR 19

Roadburn Festival 2024

Tilburg, Netherlands

Fri, JUN 14

Download Festival 2024

Derby, United Kingdom

Thu, JUN 20

Graspop Metal Meeting 2024

Dessel, Belgium

Sat, JUN 22

Maymunarnika

Sofia, Bulgaria

Sun, JUN 23

Full Force Festival 2024

Gräfenhainichen, Germany

Fri, JUN 28

Tons of Rock 2024

Oslo, Norway

Sat, JUN 29

Tuska Open Air 2024

Helsinki, Finland

Sat, SEP 28

Louder Than Life 2024

Louisville, KY