A wide range of metal fans came from all over Vermont to see a slew of bands including The Kindred, Intronaut, Deafheaven and Between the Buried and Me at Burlington?s Higher Ground Feb. 24.Most of the crowd came from off campus. Many of which were adult fans from outside of Burlington or from ?45 minutes that way,? with their finger pointing in an ambiguous direction.Ontario metal band The Kindred took stage just after 7:30 p.m. in front of a small crowd. Most were not familiar with them but said they were pleasantly surprised by their music and performance energy.?I hadn?t listened to them at all,? Charles Garey said. Garey said he traveled from northern Vermont mostly to see Between the Buried and Me.Vocalist Dave Journeaux finished their set as he sang from the middle of the audience. The small crowd was pleased by the effort. ?I certainly didn?t expect it, that?s for damn sure,? Garey said.Audience member Doug Friend said he had listened to The Kindred prior to the show. They are ?definitely better live,? he said, showing enthusiasm for their performance.Following The Kindred, Los Angeles metal band Intronaut took the stage. Drummer Danny Walker sat back center with guitarists Sacha Dunable and Dave Timnick on either side of him. Bassist Joe Lester took front and center stage.Intronauts music reflected their stage locations. Walker and Lester?s strong rhythmic presence was upfront in the mix and the music. Lester especially took the audiences attention for the intro and solo in ?Harmonomicon,? which included bass guitar chords.The short set of five songs were pulled mostly from their recent album ?Instilling Words with Tones,? but this wasn?t enough for Intronaut fans who cheered ?we want more,? following the last song.?It was way too short of a set,? Friend said, sporting a T-shirt with a print of Intronaut?s most recent album cover.Expecting more metal-looking men with beards and black T-shirts to walk on stage, the members of Deafheaven set up instead.They looked more like indie rock musicians than a black metal band. The group was clean-shaven, wore thick-rimmed glasses, oxford shirts and skinny pants. Front man George Clark wore tight black leather gloves.Deafheaven pulled songs almost exclusively from their most recent album, ?Sunbather,? including Dream House, Pecan Tree and the album?s title track. ?Sunbather? attempts to combine heavy black metal guitar riffs with the heavy guitar effects of shoegaze.?Black metal and shoegaze work surprisingly well together,? Burlington native Tyler Fountain said.Most of the band appeared stoic during their performance, but this was greatly made up for by Clark?s dynamic theatrics, which ranged from dramatic movements to napping upright on the microphone stand.Clark grasped the microphone stand, resting it on one leg outstretched while exerting high pitch screams. Between screams he strangled the stand and performed full-body bobs to heavy riffs.During longer instrumental passages, Clark left the microphone stand alone and stood rigid in center stage to air drum, and slowly raised his hands which were outstretched towards the audience as if to conduct a crowd crescendo of excitement.Concertgoers said they were impressed by the quality of Deafheaven?s live production.?They [Deafheaven] were really tight,? Fountain said, who said he attended the concert mostly to see Deafheaven perform.The stage became dark after a short intermission.Headliner Between the Buried and Me initiated their performance in sharp contrast to Deafheaven, with soft piano and clean vocals from the intro to Foam Born, to which lead singer Tommy Giles Rogers encouraged a sing-along.12