Hugo, Tantric’s lead singer, leaned out over the mass of fans below. They braced him as he belted out the chorus, and they sang along with him. Everyone was jumping with their hands in the air. In such a small venue as the Annex, it was quite the site to see. The enthusiasm was palpable, and the crowd was boisterous.

But, let’s rewind to get an idea of how things became so fervent. Silvertide, from Philadelphia, started the show. One member of the audience erroneously gave them a lackluster review after having seen them at a show a few weeks prior. He was telling people around him how only their guitarist was worth seeing. Later, he ate his words after their performance left everyone wanting a little more. Near the end of their set, the lead singer jumped out into the crowd, dividing the room into two halves, one side yelling, “I ain’t,” and the other, “comin’ home.” This marked the first time the crowd threw out inhibition and lost themselves in the moment, but it wouldn’t be the last.

Shinedown of Florida put on quite a show as well. Some people in the crowd remarked that they were more excited to see Shinedown than Tantric. You may know Shinedown by the song “45”, which is often played on 94.1 here in Madison. They performed an extended version of this song, encouraging crowd participation. Shinedown was entertaining, to say the least. In fact, they were so good that several concertgoers even said that for the $12 price of admission, they would have been satisfied with just the two openers.

When Tantric finally started to walk onto the stage, the crowd was hysterical. They started the show with three songs from their self-titled debut album, working the crowd into a frenzy with familiarity, before they began playing songs from their new album, After We Go. There was less singing along with the new songs, as the album had only been out for 4 days at the time, but people didn’t lose any interest. Some even seemed more captivated by that which they had never heard.

It’s impossible to say one part of the show was better than another. Perhaps it was Tantric’s signature song “Breakdown”, or their newest single “Hey Now”, or maybe even the old favorite “Mourning.” For the purposes of brevity, let’s just talk about one memorable performance.

When Tantric played their rocked-out cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” hands raised above heads and people began to clap with the beat. Then, as the heavier parts of the song came in, the crowd would switch from this concert staple to another. Headbanging ensued and the crowd left its collective feet.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, but when Tantric stepped of stage that evening, the crowd didn’t budge. “One more song” they chanted ardently. The band returned to the stage to play “Inside Your Head”. Tantric usually only has one guitarist, but that night there were two. This allowed them to have a sort of guitar battle, going back and forth with each guitarist trying to top the other. During this time, Hugo could be seen drinking beer and smoking cigarettes in something befitting true rock and roll fashion.

Overall, it was a long show marked by exhilaration, fanaticism, great music, a guitar battle, interesting drunks and captivating performances. Barnum and Bailey have got nothing on Tantric; this truly was the greatest show on Earth.