Sevendust Acoustic, Live at the Starland Ballroom

An Evening With Sevendust, Acoustic
Reviewed by Rob Acocella
Rating: 2/5

It pains me to write the words I'm about to put below this, but it has to be said. I've been a fan of Sevendust for a long time and I've seen them more times than I can count, but the show I just witnessed was the worst one so far. I feel like I'd be doing an injustice and a disservice if I were to gloss over the negative details and sugar coat this, so in the interest of this hopefully being seen as constructive criticism, here we go:

When I see a show billed as an acoustic performance, I expect an acoustic performance. This was not an acoustic performance. Some people may argue that a few of the songs had been re-arranged in an acoustic fashion, which I'll give you. Others may argue that the guitarists were playing acoustic guitars, again, this would be true. However, there is more to playing acoustic than simply performing songs on a hollow-body guitar. I understand that in a live and studio setting, you need to plug in, and run through an amp, and I have no issue with that at all. I do have an issue with running effects pedals in your signal chain, and making your acoustic sound like the Les Paul you use on all your other tours. I have an issue with the drums being mixed as though you're using them to perforate the lungs of the audience. I have an issue with the vocal performance of a song barely deviating from the original despite the band having claimed to have rearranged the songs. More importantly, I have a huge issue with showing up with a set of expectations, mostly consisting of 1) seeing a true acoustic performance, and 2) not having my ears ringing to the point I'm checking them for blood, only to have those expectations greatly let down.

I don't feel I'm being unfair here. I'm not taking away from Sevendust the fact that they practically ooze positive energy or that I've never seem them put on a bad show, even tonight. In fact, it's not the performance or the vibe that has me disappointed at all. I've seen many bands go the acoustic route for either part of their set or for a full tour, and none have missed the mark quite like Sevendust. This was not an acoustic show, this was a regular Sevendust show played with two hollow-body guitars mixed in with electric bass, drums, and keyboards.

The show was divided into 2 parts, with about a 30 minute intermission. The first half of the show, I felt was full of less-recognizeable songs, even for someone who has been seeing the band live, on just about every tour, since about 2003. With just a few songs that stood out instantly, most of them just sounded the same to me. The second set, which had a few more favorites, was stronger, but by then I'd already given up on the idea of the show being a more laid-back acoustic variation on what I'm used to. Also, a note to any band that is going to cover Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt": Don't change the lyrics. More specifically, don't change "I wear this crown of shit" into "I wear this crown of thorns." Not only is it such an iconic song that you shouldn't ever consider changing the lyrics, but the implication of those 2 lines are completely different and you ruin that part of the song by changing it as such. A crown of shit means you're the king of garbage, negativity, sorrow, nothingness. A crown of thorns implies condemnation and accusation. Completely different, please don't do it again.

I really wanted to like this show, and I really hate giving Sevendust a poor review for a live show, but I can't lie about this, it really failed to impress me or even meet the most basic expectations.

Carnival of Madness in Asbury Park, NJ

The Carnival of Madness (We as Human, Sevendust, In This Moment, Skillet, Shinedown)
Live in Asbury Park 8/11/13
Review and Photos by Rob Acocella
Rating: 4/5

The Carnival of Madness tour opened in Asbury Park NJ on August 11 at the famous Stone Pony. That particular tour date consisted of performances by We as Human, Sevendust, In This Moment, Skillet, and Shinedown.

Unfortunately, after arriving at the venue just a little late (NJ beach traffic on a nice day), but still with plenty of time to at least catch Sevendust's set as the second band, I realized from the parking lot that what I was hearing was "Angel's Son." Knowing that Sevendust usually puts that late in their set, I darted for the door only to catch the last 30 seconds of their final song by the time I made it through security. Apparently someone decided to start the concert way ahead of schedule.

After setting up some pretty elaborate set decorations, In This Moment took the stage. I'm not going to fake anything here, while I've long been aware of this band, I never really followed them. Not knowing any of the songs in particular, I can't give a critique of how much like the album they were or weren't. I will say this, though: The band sounded really solid and tight from the point of view of someone that hadn't heard any of the songs before, and Maria Brink and her synchronized slave dancers did a great job of provided creative visuals to go along with each song through their movements, props, and occasional costume changes. I can certainly appreciate the amount of work that must have gone into synchronizing the performance movements for each song and having to memorize an entire performance to repeat every night for weeks on the road. Overall they were entertaining to watch, between the smoke guns, the dancers, and the rebel-zombie-like stage costumes of the band against the pure white piles of skulls and fence gates set as a backdrop. For anyone that wants to know, it seems that the setlist from this show can be found HERE







The direct support slot was filled by Skillet. I'm again going to be blunt here, they did not jive well with me. The backing vocals done by drummer Jen Ledger sounded awful, similar to a young school child yelling or whining. The band's overall sound was so generic that I wasn't sure if I was at a Rock concert or walking through the local mall. On top of it all, vocalist John Cooper took every chance he could to insert biblical references or drop other Christian propaganda on the audience between songs which were about the same topics. I had not previously known that they were a Christian Rock band, but it became increasingly evident as the show went on. My personal opinion is that religion should be kept out of music, or at least Rock music. If you absolutely must put your religious views into music and lyrics, it should be done in a way that it is not completely obvious or preachey, which I don't feel they accomplished, and I don't feel was their goal to begin with. The reason is that music should be something everyone can relate to, and when you make the message of your music more exclusive, you start to leave people out and make it hard for them to digest. The band has an energetic stage presence, and I suppose if you're a fan of their music already then you would appreciate the stage show they put on, including a rising pillar system that would elevate 2 musicians at a time on either side of the stage. If you are a fan of Skillet, and want to see what they played that night, you can find the set list HERE







The show closed with an amazing performance by Shinedown which included fan favorites like "45," "Simple Man," "Devour," and "Second Chance." It was also the live premiere of "I'm Not Alright" which had previously not been performed live. Shinedown have long been known for their high-energy live shows and as always, they did not disappoint. Brent Smith's vocals were spot-on and with the extra help from Eric Bass and Zach Myers they nailed every note. It wouldn't be a Shinedown concert without some inspiring words from Brent, and he got the crowd really energized talking about how strong NJ was for making it through Superstorm Sandy and rebuilding the beaches, and how Rock and Roll is a way of life and not just a genre of music. I may be a bit biased as a fan, but I've never seen a Shinedown concert that I had anything bad to say about, and I'm happy to report that the trend is still continuing.

Sevendust: Black Out The Sun

Sevendust
Black Out the Sun
Reviewed by: Rob Acocella


I feel that at this point in Sevendust's career, it is fair to say that you pretty much know what you're going to get from them when you pick up a new release. You're going to get the same awesome pulse-pounding drum patterns, grungy riffs, and the combo of smooth and aggressive vocals that the band consistently delivers time and again. You know that as long as there wasn't some massive unexpected change in the inner workings of their songwriting, you're going to be happy with the results. Before I even started listening to Black Out The Sun (ok, I had already heard "Decay" and "Got A Feeling") I knew it was going to be classic Sevendust.

There is only one time that this can be a problem, and that's when you're a journalist trying to come up with descriptive words that you haven't used a hundred times already. It's difficult when you have nothing to complain about, but also don't have fresh new synonyms for expressing how a song sounds or how much you like a particular set of lyrics. Anyway, it's not a bad problem to have, so I'll give it a shot:

Black Out The Sun opens with a melodic, and almost symphonic, arrangement called "Memory," and just when you think the album is going to go the way of an Yngwie Malmsteen CD, the audio assault of  "Faithless" hits you in the face like a ton of bricks. This song can be a bit bi-polar with frequent changes between heavy and soft, but it's that main riff and the chorus hook that makes it an aggressive powerhouse to start the album off. "Till Death" is one hell of a rally cry song, with layers of aggressive vocals ranging from LJ's signature sound to something a little more Death Metal, as well as Morgan Rose's unmistakeable yelling from behind the kit. "Mountain" and "Cold As War" pick up the pace with a more uplifting vibe and then give way to the title track, which brings things down to a more mid-tempo pace temporarily.

A few songs later, we find the single "Decay," which harkens back to early Sevendust. It's a more vintage-style song for the band, and it sounds as though they went back to their first few albums for the inspiration on this song. It's an obvious choice for a single and that would explain why there was a video made for it. (Click the link here or scroll down for the video.)

When it comes to slow-tempo, my favorite Sevendust track had always been "Angel's Son" but on Black Out The Sun they tucked in a little gem near the end of the album called "Got A Feeling" which just tied neck and neck with "Angel's Son" for my favorite semi-acoustic Sevendust song. I'm a sucker for a good acoustic melody and harmonized vocals and they really knocked it out of the park with this one. I'm not going to lie, as a photographer and budding videographer, if there aren't already plans in place for a video for this song, I'd love to someday help with creating that. Yeah, I like it that much.

The album closes with "Murder Bar" which brings us back to the grungy riffs and schizophrenic drum patterns that you come to expect already. The song fades out the end of the album with a spacey treatment that eases you out into nothingness, or right back into the album opener (if you've got your CD player or iTunes set to repeat).

A solid effort that I can't really find any flaws with. I can always rely on Sevendust to put out quality songwriting and not stray too far from the band's signature vibe that made me love them in the first place. I haven't caught them on tour for this album yet, but I have no doubt in my mind that some of these songs will fit their aggressive, high-energy live show perfectly, and I look forward to catching them soon.

Rating: 5/5