Another Damn Great Sevendust Show!

I realized last night that I've become a Sevendust "veteran." The show was my sixth Sevendust concert in the last nine years. Although that's not as many shows as some people in the audience, I'd still been to more Sevendust shows than most people around me at the Myth in Maplewood who had either seen the band play live once or twice before or were Sevendust "virgins." I've been rocking to these guys for almost a decade, and if they keep playing hard, aggressive shows like they did last night, I'll keep coming back for more!

When I heard that Sevendust was playing at the Myth on Monday with four other bands and that tickets were only $20, I knew I had to go to this show! I hadn't seen them since their show at First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis in November last year, and I knew from experiencing their 2008 show at the Myth Nightclub that it was a great venue to enjoy such a concert experience.

I braved the Twin Cities traffic, arriving in enough time to do a little Christmas window shopping and to grab some supper before the show. The first band, Sucker Punch, hails from nearby Minneapolis and they showed promise with their original songs and an interesting metal cover of "Summer Nights" from the John Travolta movie Grease.

The next band, Pennsylvania-based Candlelight Red got the growing crowd into the show with some fun original songs from their January 2012 debut album The Wreckage, including the title cut and a cover of Roxette's song "The Look," among others. I enjoyed their set, and made a mental note to check out their album when it comes out.

The third opening band, Seven Day Sonnet, hails from Chicago. They played about a half-dozen songs including their current single "Hapless." I wasn't as impressed with them as I was by Candlelight Red, but they kept the crowd thoroughly entertained until the next act hit the stage.

The final opening act, Eye Empire, took the stage shortly after 9 p.m. The band was formed by former Dark New Day members guitarist B.C. Kochmit and bass guitarist Corey Lowery, who happens to be Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery's brother. Clint even popped up on stage to join his brother's band to play guitar during the song "Victim" which he and Sevendust frontman Lajon Witherspoon recorded parts for on Eye Empire's album Moment of Impact. Before I knew it, their ten-song set was over. I thought Eye Empire did a great job, and was thoroughly ready for Sevendust.

After getting to see Sevendust's always unique backdrops (the curtain behind the drum riser had the band name in white on a red background with a cartoon character of a skull wearing dreadlocks and a cowboy hat with the number "7" on it) and the usual equipment checks during a set change, the house lights went dark and guitarists John Connolly, Clint Lowery and bassist Vince Hornsby led a thundering, thomping version of the song "Splinter" from 2010's Cold Day Memory. This heavy song set the tempo throughout the set, as the band played more bruising numbers like "Denial," "Praise," "Enemy," and "Strong Arm Broken."

Because this was such a driving metal show full of heavy lyrics and guitar, I didn't get to hear some of their lighter fare like "Angel's Son," "Xmas Day" or "Follow" this time around, but I really didn't mind because it was such a great aggressive set with songs I don't normally hear during their concerts like "Alpha", "Forever," and "The End is Coming." Sevendust closed the night with their usual encore song "Face to Face," and left their fans chanting "Sev-en-DUST! Sev-en-DUST!" yearning for more.

I splurged for the meet and greet pass, and got the opportunity to talk with Corey Lowery of Eye Empire near the merchandise table while waiting to meet Sevendust up on the third floor for the after-party. I first saw Corey play live with his old band Stereomud at the old Del-Win Entertainment Center in St. Joe, and got to remind him about old times. The after-party was great. We all got autographed set lists and band photos to get autographs for. I got to talk with all of the Sevendust band members again, but didn't get everyone's autograph this time, as some of them snuck out a little early to rest up for the next night's show. I didn't mind, however, because I enjoyed reminding Lajon of meeting him outside First Avenue before last year's show, talking to Vince and his friends about ice-fishing, chatting with John about shows and concert venues, talking more baseball and hearing some funny stories about Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows from drummer Morgan Rose, and talking music and life in general with Clint. Those memories will last a long time. Besides, I got all their autographs on the very same kind of photo sheet last year after their First Avenue show!

If you're into heavy rock or metal, and haven't been to a Sevendust show or picked up one of their CD's, I would strongly encourage you to do so immediately! They are one of the hardest working and hardest rocking bands today. Every show of theirs I've been to has been very memorable, and last night was just one more damn great Sevendust show!

P.S. I'm also including in this review a scanned copy of the autographed set list we received during the after-party. The band didn't play the song "Black," but otherwise every other song listed on the set list was played during last night's show.