Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul
9/26/24
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick
A stacked lineup of fantastic live hard rock bands hit the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for what seems like the first rock show there in close to a year. GODSMACK kicked off the last leg of their U.S. tour for the year with much excitement from the crowd. Lots of Godsmack shirts from various years were seen on fans around the concourse which fit perfectly in to the theme of GODSMACK’s show. Starting off with a video showing the beginnings of Godsmack in 1995 and then fast forward to a live video feed of Godsmack in their dressing room back stage walking to the stage. The video footage got the crowd riled up as they took the stage riffing on an instrumental portion of “Surrender” before launching in to the song to set the tone for the evening.
GODSMACK continued to use a mix of live video and music videos from throughout the years as they traveled backwords thru their catalog playing a track or two from each album during the main set. GODSMACK have created a solid catalog in the last 30 years and the band sounded and looked in peak form. Sully Erna, Tony Rombola, Robbie Merrill and Shannon Larkin all looked excited to be back on stage and happy to be playing these songs for everyone. “When Legends Rise” into “1000hp” were crowd sing-alongs that amped up fans of all ages. “Straight Out of Line” snuck in to the set to surprise many long time fans and it was great to hear that song live again. An always stellar “Keep Away” had visuals re-creating and updating the iconic album cover from the debut album before launching in to crowd favorites “Voodoo” and “Whatever” from the same album.
GODSMACK themselves gave 100% on stage with a fantastic set chronicling their (soon to be) 30 year career but it was extremely weird seeing GODSMACK in an arena headlining with no pyro. All the spots where you knew there was going to be something, there was nothing. We needed at least a little fire especially during “1000hp”. I’m sure it came down to a technical problem and they just had to go give it all they got giving MN a unique show. Your still going to a GODSMACK show and leaving having a great time.
CHEVELLE brought it for their 9 song, 45 min set that also went thru their expansive catalog bringing that Family Reunion vibe of the night as GODSMACK and CHEVELLE have performed on the same bills many times together. Chevelle also formed in 1995 but didn’t put out their first national record until 1999 and singer/guitarist Pete Loffler still has the same energy on stage that he did when they were out touring on Wonder What’s Next. CHEVELLE came out with “Young Wicked” before launching in to “Self Destructor” and from there we were off racing. CHEVELLE went back and played kind of a deep cut for long time fans with “Family System” before launching in to fan favorites from the same album “Send the Pain Below” and “The Red”. Everyone (band included) got a good laugh when GODSMACK’s curtain dropped as Pete goes “We got one more song!”, the curtain then dropped as CHEVELLE performed the phenomenal “Mars Simula” from their latest album NIRATIAS to close out their set.
WAGE WAR put their 30 min set to good use with little talk and lots of music giving the crowd a good sized helping of their new album Stigma starting off the show with “The Show’s About to Start” before throwing down with “Low” and “Stitch”. Vocalist Briton Bond sounded great as he made sure to use every inch of the large stage. It’s been fun watching WAGE WAR become a more confident band since coming out of the pandemic with the solid Manic album opening for everyone from Beartooth to Slipknot. NOTHING MORE brought the lights, WAGE WAR brought the air cannons to the party doing a great job setting them apart from the rest of the lineup. The whole band sounded super tight as “NAIL5” brought the heavy before the melodic #1 rock radio single “Mangetic” launching into a heavy “Manic” to close out their set.
NOTHING MORE also got a short 30 mins to do what they do best and that’s leaving it all out on the stage. Coming out swinging with 3 from their fantastic new record Carnal with “House on Sand” into “Angel Song” into “If It Doesn’t Hurt” before giving the crowd a breather as they were close to half way thru their set already. Vocalist Jonny Hawkins was running all over the stage as guitarist Mark Vollelunga, bassist Daniel Oliver and drummer Ben Anderson laid a super tight foundation. The crowd sang along with “Jenny” before they closed out their quick set with “This Is the Time (Ballast)” that ended with Jonny, Mark and Daniel performing the last part of the extended outro from the barricade. If there were people in the crowd that weren’t aware of NOTHING MORE yet, they definitely made their mark now.
All of the bands brought their A-game for tonight’s show to showcase the strength of each band’s material treating the crowd to a spectacular night out.
SEE MORE OF BRETT's PHOTOS of GODSMACK and CHEVELLE HERE!
SEE MORE OF BRETT's PHOTOS of WAGE WAR and NOTHING MORE HERE!
