It was a dreary weekend in Montreal with consistent rain. But if you were at Place Bell Saturday, it was raining metal.
First up we had Michigan’s I Prevail. They kicked it up immediately to 11 with “Bow Down,” and they never turned the intensity down. Vocalist Brian Burkheiser’s dynamic voice shone throughout the set, effortlessly transitioning between melodic singing and aggressive screaming. The crowd was certainly into it, as there was barely anyone sitting, which is rare for an opening band. Okay, they may have cheated a little, throwing in covers of Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff” and System of a Down’s “Chop Suey,” but in this case, I’ll say cheating is okay.
Speaking of cheating, Godsmack had a cheat code of their own to get their party started. A white curtain concealed the stage and there was a projected intro by Mix Master Mike, hyping up the crowd with his signature antics.
With the crowd buzzing, the curtain fell and “When Legends Rise” started. At 55, frontman Sully Erna showed no signs of slowing down. It was an onslaught of their greatest hits. This tour is very much a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Godsmack hitting the metal scene.
They hit every fan favourite headbanger until it was time to slow things down with the hypnotic “Voodoo,” which was a massive sing-along. The eeriness of a packed arena singing this song in unison is chilling. If there was a snake in the arena, it was charmed.
The stage crew then rolled out a second drumkit with Erna sat behind for a killer drum battle with drummer Shannon Larkin. It was a good 7 minutes of epic percussions and riffs that had the crowd dancing.
We got a softer moment to start off the encore with power ballad “Under Your Scars” as Erna sat at his piano and raised awareness for his charity, the Scars Foundation, which deals with mental health, explaining to the crowd where anyone can go for help if they need it, relating to his own past.
We went from vulnerability to “Bulletproof.” It was time to close out the evening with the massive “I Stand Alone.” I’ve seen pretty much every great metal act there is to see, and there are very few songs that hit as hard as this one, straight from the opening riff. People were literally in a frenzy, screaming the chorus.
An amazing evening mixing new hardcore with old-school rock metal, proving every generation has something to offer. let’s just enjoy it all with our rock horns up!
Review – Richard Brunette
Photos – Eric Brisson
