Summerfest presents… Sevendust
With the last weekend of Summerfest closing in fast, the Rock stage brought out the big guns to finish strong. Friday night’s headliner was Sevendust from Atlanta, GA and with opener, Nikki Barr.
While Nikki Barr band did her best to get the crowd into it, they were really here for one band tonight. What look like would be a small turn out for Sevendust changed about an hour before they were to go on. Out of nowhere, people started filling up the area and it was packed by the 10pm start time.
If you never been to a Sevendust show, it’s like a family reunion where we all get together for a throwdown. Sevendust has been doing this rock show for over 20 years and have been on some of the biggest tours in those years, but nothing beats seeing them headline. The past few shows I have seen them, they were opening for other bands and left wanting them to play more. So tonight I got my wish when they walked on the stage and opened with Splinter of that last album, Cold Day Memory.
Clint Lowery look like a caged beast ready to escape his cage as the opening notes started and he took off. This guy does not know how to slow down. Combine that with Vince Hornsby on Bass and John Connolly on Rhythm guitar, you have them
flying all over the place with a high octane performance. On drums is Morgan Rose with his short dred locks flying as he pounds away on his pearl white drumset; he provided a beat that flows smooth with soul, as well as hard like heavy metal, along with his guttural screams and backing vocals.
Lajon Witherspoon is the man - plain and simple. He carries himself in a way very few do - with confidence, but with humility as well. He is like the everyman singer and he is all about having a good time when on stage. Even off stage he will come up to you and ask how you’re doing.
Some of the songs played of the set list were Suffocate, Denial, Black, and Strong Arm Broken. They also played my personal favorite, Angel’s Son. The crowd was into if from the start to the end and the guys were feeding off it.
There were two issues that night - the spotlight - guys seem to just have had just one guy working instead of the 3 to 4 that the other shows had all the other nights and the other issue was the set list was too short for me as a fan wanting to see a full 1 ½ hour set. It seems they cut out about 2 to 3 songs from what I could see scratched off.
The encore song was Face to Face, which combines both Rose and Witherspoon on vocals. With that, the night ended and the family was happy to be reunited once again.
All Photos Provided by Peter Lizano
