PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ on July 29th
As the summer heats up here in New Jersey the summer concert season does too. On the heels of New Jerseys’ first real summer’s heat wave, rock fans from all over the state flocked to the PNC Bank Arts Center to see the hard rock music greats – Godsmack and Staind.
Written by Andris Jansons
First one came Mix Master Mike. DJ that has worked with many great artists and is mostly known for his work with Beastie Boys. While it might be a surprising choice for a DJ to open a rock show, it was perfect. Besides all the Beastie Boys hits, Mike played many rock and metal big hits to get the crowd going. He is also very familiar to the Godsmack fans as at least for the last two or so years he is the face of the intro that is played before Godsmack takes the stage.
And if there was anyone left in the crowd that needed an energy jolt, mother nature certainly stepped in to help with some thunderstorms rolling into the area. Just before Staind was supposed to take the stage one large storm finally reached the theater. One strong lighting strike shook the air and a downpour with gusty winds followed. Fans looked for shelter. However, there were quite a few that took it as a challenge or some extra experience and stayed out in the open celebrating each wind gust. Thankfully it was over fast enough, and it delayed the show only for about 20 minutes.
Staind is a well-seasoned rock band from Massachusetts, that has been around since 1995, with two stints in hiatus from the public eye. The band’s vocalist Aaron Lewis has released an extensive solo music collection and made some headlines for political opinion reasons.
The band opened with a brand-new song “Lowest In Me” from the upcoming album “Confessions Of The Fallen”. They followed with a few more up-tempo hits like Not Again and Just Go. I will certainly not draw favorites here, but for many Staind is bellowed because pf their ballads, and just by the middle of the set and Aaron’s solo of Epiphany, one of the biggest ones followed – Right Here. It wasn’t a long wait for all to indulge in dancing and singing to the other two – So Far Away and It’s Been Awhile. The set was properly wrapped up with thunderous Mudshovel.
See full photo gallery of Staind performance here.
Fellow Massachusetts rockers Godsmack’s set was also delayed because of an earlier thunderstorm. Day earlier in the Camden, NJ the band had to cancel their set due to the stormy weather. A white curtain covered the stage, and as mentioned earlier it was used as a screen to display Mix Master Mike’s intro of the Godsmack.
After proper Godsmack went straight to business with When Legends Rise and Cryin’ Like A Bitch. The third song 1000hp came with a proper stage flame thrower display.
Earlier in February of this year, the band released their eight-studio album called “Lighting Up The Sky”. Band performed three songs from latest release – You And I, What About Me and Surrender. Rest of the setlist stretched through the whole discography.
Of course, we had THE BATALLA DE LOS TAMBORES. A drum battle between bands vocalist Sully Erna (who is former drummer himself) and drummer Shannon Larkin. The biggest winners here of course were fans. Some snippets from rock and metal biggest hits played during the battle included Walk This Way, Back In Black, Enter Sandman and more.
For the encore the band played Under Your Scars, the song that addresses mental health issues. with Sully on the piano that had a link to the https://www.scarsfoundation.org/ , a charity organization started by Sully Erna. Such emotionally powerful moment was transformed into powerfully aggressive ending with bands mega hit I Stand Alone that was accompanied with a lot of flames.
See full photo gallery of Godsmack performance here.
The tour will continue for the rest of August. Get your tickets here : https://www.livenation.com/artist/K8vZ9171hLf/godsmack-events
Wed Aug 02 – Scranton, PA – The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
Thu Aug 03 – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
Sat Aug 05 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
Sun Aug 06 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
Tue Aug 08 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Wed Aug 09 – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
Thu Aug 10 – Chicago, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 12 – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Music Center
Sun Aug 13 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater
Wed Aug 16 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
Fri Aug 18 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
Sun Aug 20 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
Thu Aug 24 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 26 – Las Vegas, NV – Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino
Sun Aug 27 – San Diego, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Thu Aug 31 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
