Sevendust and Static-X fire up fans with high-energy sets on The Machine Killer Tour with support from Dope and Lines of Loyalty.
Melodic hard rock band Lines of Loyalty gets the evening started with a set made up of songs from their album Hurts To Be Human. This includes the songs “Winless War,” “With or Without You,” “My Addiction,” “I’m Not the One,” “Because of You,” “Blackout,” and the title track. Their songs have catchy riffs and it is easy to see why the crowd was grooving along with them. At one point, they ask the crowd, “Did we make some fans in Detroit?” To which the crowd responds with loud cheers. Lines of Loyalty is from Kenosha, WI, and is comprised of Nubz Morrison on vocals and guitar, Redo Ianni on bass, and Brayden Pike on drums. Redo was very active, moving about the stage, and whipping his hair around. The crowd seems to like them and show their appreciation after every song.
Industrial metal group Dope is up next with a 30-minute set of hits that has the crowd fired up early. Led by singer Edsel Dope, they tear through song after song with catchy riffs including “Blood Money,” “Bring It On,” “Bitch,” “Debonaire,” and “Die, Boom, Bang, Burn, F**k.” Filling in for Virus on guitar is Tommy Shaffner, who is all over the stage and makes use of the risers up front often. Laying down the solid low end are bassist Daniel Fox and drummer Chris Warner. Daniel is highly active as he runs and jumps about the stage and makes some wild facial expressions. They finish up their set with a heavy cover of the Dead or Alive classic, “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” which has the crowd bouncing, arms waving, and even a circle pit is going, along with a clown crowd surfing. The lights go down and the song “I Might Let the Devil Win” from Sevendust’s 2023 album Truth Killer plays along with a video. Eventually, the Atlanta-based hard rock quintet takes the stage and finishes the song. They follow that with the title track from the new album which has the crowd waving and putting their horns up. Sevendust is one of the hardest-working bands with 14 albums over their 29-year career, and they never disappoint with their killer live performances. Lead singer Lajon Witherspoon is sounding great tonight and seems to always be smiling. The rest of the band, bassist Vince Hornsby, lead guitarist Clint Lowery, rhythm guitarist John Connolly, and drummer Morgan Rose, are dialed in and laying down the killer beats and riffs. All the band members also contribute critical backing vocals to many songs.Morgan is tearing it up during “Alpha” with his hair flying about. He also has his face painted and makes it look like he is wearing a mask. He is an absolute beast on the drums and helps power the heavy songs. Following “Till Death,” they play a fan favorite “Splinter,” and then “Hero” which has some heavy bass and gets the crowd moshing. “Denial” is another popular song, and it has the fans bouncing, waving, and singing along. “Fence” is a banger that keeps the audience amped up. Following “Strong Arm Broken” and “Enemy,” they play “Trust” from the 2001 album Animosity, which is overall a bit more mellow, but still has that familiar Sevendust sound, along with some guitar squeals.
They wind down their set with the single “Everything” from Truth Killer, and then take it back to the 2005 album Next with the heavy song “Pieces” which starts with a siren and then Lajon leads the crowd in clapping. It also features some great guitar playing by John. Returning to the stage, they wrap it up with two songs that have closed many sets on past tours. Starting with the thrashy “Bitch,” and then the hard-hitting “Face to Face” which has the crowd singing along to the chorus, as well as many bouncing up and down. The fans show their appreciation with loud cheers as the band exits.
Anticipation builds in the crowd as they await Static-X to take the stage. The lights go off and slowly a figure makes its way to center stage. It is an imposing figure with a pumpkin head which is appropriate for the Halloween season. Initially, it is dimly lit and then the backlighting becomes red, snow and bubbles are in the air, and then the head lights up. The fans go wild. It exits the stage, then the band appears and kicks it off with the songs “Hollow” and “Terminator Oscillator” from their 2020 album Project: Regeneration Vol. 1. The latter song is aggressive and features some rapid drumming by Ken Jay, killer riffs by Koichi Fukuda, and the screaming vocals by Xer0. Xer0 has a cool mask with eyes that light up red, and their stage set is cool with strobe lights, flashing lights in various hues, and an industrial look with metal Static-X symbols on the mic stands, and some transformers on the stage.They take it back to the beginning with five songs in a row from their 1999 debut album Wisconsin Death Trip. This includes the songs “Love Dump,” “Sweat of the Bud,” “Wisconsin Death Trip,” “Fix,” and “Bled for Days.” By now, a mosh pit has broken out on the floor along with some crowd surfing and many others bouncing and waving. Tony is spinning and stalking the stage, while Koichi makes use of the risers. “Black and White” gets the crowd singing along, and the banger “This is Not” really gets the mosh pit moving. For the new song “Z0mbie,” a giant Frankenstein character takes the stage, dancing to the music and waving to the crowd.
Their songs hit hard and have a pulsing beat to them with great bass lines delivered by Tony Campos like on the song “Get to the Gone,” which also gets a circle pit going on the floor. They wrap up the main portion of their set with “I Am,” “Destroy All,” and “Cold.” Returning to the stage, the fans sing along to “I’m With Stupid.” A character with what looks like a giant hockey puck for a head with an X on it runs about the stage with a shovel, which goes along with the lyrics “so I grabbed my shovel.” Tony takes some time to thank the fans, introduce the band members, and talk a bit about the founder Wayne Static. It is a touching moment. They close out their set with the hit “Push It” which leaves the fans wanting more. What a great evening of hard rock and metal by all four bands. Be sure to catch this tour when it comes to a nearby city.
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