[MUSIC ~ Alternative Metal/Nu Metal ~ USA]
Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, Mon 29 Apr.
I’ve been a fan of Sevendust pretty much since the beginning, coming on board with their first eponymous album and second album Home cementing the Atlanta Georgia metal band’s place in my heart. I followed them pretty closely well into the 2000s, and had tried to see them, but for one reason or another I’ve not managed to see them play live. There have been cancelled shows, or travelling, or even a date mix up with one of their shows here, but it’s really grated me that in 20 years, I haven’t managed to see them. Until now… there’s no way I was missing this show! I even rearranged a work trip so that I’d be here to see them!
It turns out that the band has continued releasing albums over the years, and there’s a few I missed along the way, but as the proud owner of well more than half their discography, I think I can call myself a fan, and I was definitely hanging out for the show.
Kicking off proceedings was a young band from Sydney called Redhook. I hadn’t heard of them prior to their show, but did have a listen to their stuff on YouTube, and was pretty impressed. With female lead vocals that had plenty of balls, the band interesting evoked images of Rage Against The Machine. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed with my comparison when the band played a cover of a Rage tune, Guerrilla Radio during their quick but action packed set. Surrounded by plenty of great original music, Redhook won me over and I’m definitely keen to hear more.
The main event was obviously Sevendust, and from an intro PA tune from AC/DC booming out the sound system, the guys took the stage to many cheers and proceeded to raise the roof. Having missed a few of Sevendust’s albums over the years (I think perhaps some were on minor labels, and not sure they were available here – thank goodness for the internet!), I was initially worried about how much music I’d recognise, but my fears were allayed when they band jumped straight into a fantastically varied set of tunes from throughout their career. There were new tunes alongside old favourites, and the enthusiastic crowed lapped it up all way through. The band opened with new tune Dirty, and quickly jumped back in time with classics like Reconnect, Denial and Bitch from their first albums. There was light and shade, with slower moodier tunes like Angel’s Son and Dead Set balancing against the raw power of Praise, Shine, and Enemy. The standout moment for me was hearing Waffle, my favourite Sevendust tune. So good to experience this one live!
The main set closed out with the obvious Thank You from their second-to-last album Kill The Flaw, before crowd cheers brought them out for a killer encore of Black and Face To Face. The mosh pit was active all way through, and plenty of head banging showed the Adelaide crowd knew how to turn it on for this talented group of Georgians. And the band all seemed to have a blast too, with plenty of banter between singer Lajon Witherspoon and almost too much enthusiasm from bass player Vince Hornsby! All in all, a sensational show from a band that has long been one of my favourites, and after their performance, will continue to be!
4 stars
Luke Balzan
Images courtesy of Luke Balzan
Setlist:
- Dirty
- Pieces
- Insecure
- Reconnect
- Praise
- Denial
- Bitch
- Dead Set
- Waffle
- Enemy
- Angel’s Son
- Shine
- Thank You
Encore:
- Black
- Face To Face
The Clothesline Rating...
Luke Balzan
A definitive dose of Nu Metal.
