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Sevendust
Red
Diecast
InVitro
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City Hall
Nashville, TN
3/09/2007
By: J Sherrod
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It's a Friday night in Nashville. All the tourists are flooding
the Honky-tonks down on Broadway and most of the locals
are visiting the same pubs and bars they always frequent.
Not I however, I'm goin' to a full-scale rock show and though
I know a good time is comin', I'm unaware at just how much
of one.
I arrive at the venue early to conduct a pre-show interview with Mikey Doling of opener
InVitro. The doors won't open for over an hour, but the line
had already formed and was wrapping around the corner of
the building. I do the interview and wait in line for a while
until an incredible lady comes by to make announcements -
one being if you have VIP passes, or are on the guest list, to
go to a special line. I scurried over to that line and got right
in where my first-ever All Access pass was waiting for me. I
felt just like Wayne and Garth and couldn't wait to put the
pass to work and see where I could go.
InVitro kicked things off at ten minutes to seven as they
rushed the stage in what looked to be white space suits and
the most outrageous masks made out of aluminum foil. I
knew nothing of this band other than what little bit I found
through my research on the Web. After Mikey told me how
the band "sounds like nobody else but themselves," I kinda
thought to myself, "yeah right." I'm thinkin', "does this dude
have any idea how hard it is to have a unique sound these
days?"
Well, I'm glad that was only a thought because I
double-dog-dare any motherfucker to tell me this band
sounds like any other band in the world! Seriously. I can't
even begin to tell you what the band sounds like, other than
wide-ass open!
After the first two songs, the band tore off their masks,
tossed them into the crowd and removed their uniforms to
reveal Dead Kennedys and Ramones T-shirts. Singer Jeff
Weber stormed the stage as if he'd had one pre-show
energy drink too many as drummer Benny Cancino was
doin' things on drums that made my jaw drop. Of all the
shows I've attended in my life, only three times have I ever
been in absolute awe of an opening band I knew nothing of
until the show. InVitro will now be the fourth. I can, without
any doubt, say I've never seen or heard anything like them.
They proved to be a hard act to follow this night and I am
honored to have met them and experienced what they
do.
InVitro's set notwithstanding, this night would provide a very
special treat for all in attendance. At the end of the band's
set, Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist Sonny
Mayo [former Snot guitarist with Mikey] came onstage and
paid a special tribute to late Snot singer James Lynn Strait,
performing Snot's "Stoopid." I was standing near the
backstage area, three rows back, and loosing my ever lovin'
mind! Being a fan of the Snot recording and having only
seen them one time (on the side stage of Ozzfest nine years
earlier) this was as close as I would ever come to hearing
this song played live again. I smiled ear to ear; then put my
pass to use for the first time to congratulate the guys after
their set.
Around 7:50, the Boston-based Diecast took the stage. The
crowd was of good size for InVitro but was growing by the
minute, so I migrated towards the back near the soundman.
The band came out fiercely and the crowd went wild; but
Diecast just didn't do much for me. I watched them
on-and-off as I stood in awe at the sound guy, wondering
what the hell he was doin' exactly. Ok, I've heard every
drummer joke in the book, but how this guy knows what
buttons to push, knobs to tweak and so on is beyond me. I
was watching him work for the band and listening to them
thinkin', "how much of a difference is this dude making in
their sound?"
While that was boggling my mind, I looked up as the singer
dedicated a song - which just happened to be the 80's
cheese-hit "Danger Zone." I must give credit where credit is
due - the band thrashed this up just right. Diecast is a great
band and the crowd approved of their set. They're
performance was tight as could be, but I didn't think they fit
on this particular bill.
8:35 rolled around as Nashville-based up-and-coming band
Red took the stage with grooves chunkier than that beef
stew the commercials claim can feed an NFL team. Even
though these guys are not only on rock radio but local boys
as well, I still had no idea who they were! This show would
change that little problem quick, fast and in a
hurry.
I had moved back up to the front side of the stage - just
outta the pit action - and stood to watch this band whip the
crowd into a frenzy. The band reminded the crowd several
times they were local boys and how cool it was to be on tour
with Sevendust, and to request their songs to be played on
the radio - gotta' appreciate them workin' it. The band's
sound is similar to Sevendust and I can see how they fit
very well on this tour. By the time their set was over I went
back to congratulate them as well, and was ready for the
main reason everybody was there.
By 9:30 the lights went down and the now-packed house was
ready to erupt like a mushroom cloud from an atom bomb.
Sevendust came out with three songs from 2005's
Next including "Hero," "Ugly" and "The Last
Song," then followed with songs from their sophomore
record, "Rumblefish" and title track "Home" - which vocalist
Lajon Witherspoon dedicated to Nashville - the town where
he was born.
After the first few songs the crowd was going all-out bananas
including moshing and crowd surfing. I wasn't
up-front-and-center like I have been at past Sevendust
shows. This time I opted to stand roughly where I was for
InVitro, about four rows back and to the side. Every member
of the band was on point tonight as Morgan Rose proved why
he's one of the best drummers in the industry today.
Guitarists John and Sonny stormed every inch of the stage,
making sure every person in the crowd got a little love and
bassist Vinnie laid down that fat-ass bottom-end that put this
band on the map. The band played at least two songs from
every album and three off their newest, Alpha
which was just released three days before the
show.
I've seen Sevendust three times in my home state of North
Carolina prior to this show: The first time in 1998 on Ozzfest
at a pavilion in Raleigh, once in a wide-open field at the 99
X-fest in Greenville and the third time in a speedway in
Jacksonville. Never have I seen them in a venue this
intimate, so this was a new way to see a band I love and
respect. Sevendust is not only one of my favorite bands of
the last ten years but also rank in my top twenty bands
ever. NEVER have I been disappointed in their performance
and I will continue to go to their shows for as long as they
continue to tour.
When I cover a show, I try to not only cover the bands, but
also the entire experience. With that being said, InVitro
invited me to hang out with them after the show. I was very
well behaved all night until I got on their bus and the shots
and beer started flowing. We all had a few laughs and
conversations. Just before the buses were scheduled to
leave at 2am, we all ended up outside the Sevendust bus. All
too often, bands thank the fans for buying their records,
shirts and show tickets. This time around I want to thank
them for being so unbelievably cool and sharing their booze
and bus with me. At the very end of it all, Mikey asked me
how far I lived from the venue and I mentioned it was only
about a twelve-minute drive. He and Sonny saw a cab
across the street, hailed it, and Mikey paid the driver (with
his own money) to get me home safely.
Huge thanks to all who made my night; by not only rockin'
my world, but also by getting' me home safely afterwards.
No egos with these guys, just all-out solid human beings.
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