By: Jesse James Mazzoccoli

The second leg of the Music as a Weapon Tour is going on right now across North America, so this is a great time for heavy metal and hard rock fans across the continent. The tour’s third stop was at the Metro Center in Rockford, IL, and Guitar International was on hand to witness Heavy metal giants Disturbed and Korn co-headline with supporting acts Sevendust and In This Moment, all of whom brought down the house that night in Illinois.

Each band has their strengths; Korn has the one and only Jonathan Davis and all of his poetic and tragic eccentricities, and Disturbed the unmistakable vocals of David Draiman. However, the supporting acts were just as good in their own right as these Heavy Metal legends.

Maria Brink of In This Moment is the up and coming high priestess of metal, and if there’s an award given for the tastiest and most technical guitar riffs of the night, her guitarist Chris Howorth would have definitely left with the trophy.

But if there was a trophy for crowd control, crowd respect, and intense high-level energy, that award would have easily been dominated in all categories by Sevendust. From the time they hit the stage until the time they rolled off, it was all Sevendust. Simply stated, this was Sevendust’s show!

Sevendust had the most intense circle pits and crowd participations. Everyone in the crowd seemed to know every Sevendust lyric and shouted it back when Lajon Witherspoon asked for it. Judging by the way he works the crowd, it’s no wonder why he’s one of the best front men in the business.

And it wasn’t all about crowd participation, the members of the band actually played together and communicated with each other on stage, not in some choreographed fashion or trading sides of the stage to give onlookers a differently view of the scene, but they interacted with one another and were having fun jamming with each other in the moment.

This is a characteristic that sometimes get lost in bands of this caliber, and they displayed it with such grace, which actually added much more of a dynamic with the audience. It was like watching a group finding their unique chemistry, then watching as they realize it and experiment with it live on stage.

Bassist Vince Hornsby and rhythm guitarist John Connolly were communicating with the fans as if they knew every individual in the crowd. I know you’re thinking “Well, that’s their job,” but it was something different. They were there, right there with each and every fan in the music, in the moment.

It was more than a concert, it was a real experience. Many bands do this sort of thing, but few do it like these guys, and I’ve seen literally thousands of bands, and I was blown away by the way these guys just did what they do. Not to detract from the rest of the performers who all put on a phenomenal show, but these two guys were by far the most impressive on the stage that night.

And we can’t forget about Morgan Rose, who is limited in a special sense behind the drums, but no doubt made his presence known with his intense backing vocals and ensemble-like solos.

Guitarist Clint Lowery was missing tonight because he just became a new dad, but he was replaced by BC Kochmit who did a great job filling in. He was a great fit, an incredible guitarist and cool dude. I saw him and Witherspoon on the left side of the stage mingling with fans as they enjoyed Korn’s historic performance.

The only downer to Sevendust’s set is that it simply wasn’t long enough. They are supporting their 2010 release Cold Day Memory, so some of their classic tunes like “Bitch” and “Waffle” weren’t able to make the set list that night. Regardless, they get and A+ for bringin’ it to the Midwest!

******

Sevendust Gallery

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon

Sevendust Music as a Weapon