GODSMACK LIVE AT THE WAAF BIG GIG

Saturday night I headed to Worcester to see WAAF’s Big Gig, 50th anniversary of the station plus 2 years for Covid postponements. Covid once again bit into this show as the main reason I was attending, Three Days Grace had to drop out at the last minute due to a positive case in their touring group. Two of the openers, Lilith Czar and Black Veil Brides I had just seen 2 weeks ago. The other opener Wage War was a new live experience and Godsmack always rocks out.

I’ll start with the headliner and work backwards. Godsmack is from Massachusetts and loves to play in front of the home crowd. The place was packed and the crowd was hit with pyrotechnics as the band hit the stage for “I Stand Alone” and “When Legends Rise”. Lead Singer Sully Erna welcomed the home crowd and dedicated their career to the faithful fans of Massachusetts. Flames erupted from the stage as “1000hp” played. Erna next talked about the memories the guys in the band, Tony Rombola (Guitar), Robbie Merrill (Bass) and him had attending shows at the DCU watching their musical favorites play. He pointed out drummer Shannon Larkin was not among these prior DCU adventures.

This led into “Unforgettable”. “Keep Away”, “Cryin’ Like a Bitch” and “Straight Out a Line” followed. Red, White and Blue pyro erupted for “Awake”. “ Something Different” was next followed by a cover of Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way” where Rombala did a nice job with the talk box. ”Speak” and “Voodoo” had the phone lights out and the pyro on stage increased. “Whatever” was next and Erna pointed out this is the song that stated it all for Godsmack. “Bulletproof” ended the main set.

Before playing the encore Erna reminded the crowd to not take things for granted as the past couple years has shown us all. He then sat at the piano and dedicated “Under Your Scars” to a young boy who lost his battle with cancer. The show ended with “Highway to Hell” an AC/DC cover.

I will say the only band of the night you could hear the vocals clearly for was Godsmack. Don’t think that was on purpose but it was strange. Black Veil Brides took forever to come out, they could have been stalling for the absence of Three Days Grace, but seemed to have taken forever 2 weeks ago too. Some highlights of the set were latest single “Crimson Skies”, including the slowest circle pit I have ever witnessed and “The Legacy” that had the floor with 2 circle pits, including head banging and fists pumping. Black Veil Brides is Andy Biersack (Vocals), Jinxx (Rhythm Guitar/Violin), Jake Pitts (Lead Guitar), Christian “CC” Coma (Drums) and Lonny Eagleton (Bass).

The second act of the night, Wage War, I was looking forward to seeing live and they did not disappoint. Highlights included opening song “Relapse” with the whole band, Britton Bond (Vocals), Seth Blake (Lead Guitar), Cody Quistad (Rhythm Guitar), Chris Gaylord (Bass) and Stephen Kluesener (Drums) headbanging for its entirety. The first circle pit of the night appeared during the next song “Teeth” and at least one was going the remainder of their set. ”Gravity” had great audience participation with fists pumping to the music and the latest single “Circle the Drain” had 3 circle pits going, all of decent size.

Lilith Czar opened the show and did her usual stellar job of getting the crowd ready. Highlights were “Edge of Seventeen”, a Stevie Nicks cover, “Lola” where Czar encouraged the crowd to follow their dreams and the fans lit up the arena with lights and latest single “Anarchy”.

It was a great night of music, a good night of vocals and a disappointing night of Covid affecting another show.

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