Sevendust took the stage with “Hero” & all hell totally broke loose as new guitarist Sonny Mayo, bassist Vinnie H., & guitarist John Connolly took the front of the stage by storm.
SEVENDUST / INVITRO / DIECAST
April 22, 2007
Ram’s Head Live
Baltimore, Maryland
If you live in the state of Maryland, it’s practically a crime if you love live music & haven't been to Ram’s Head Live, which is in the Power Plant area of downtown Baltimore. Surrounded by trendy dance clubs, restaurants, & the Inner Harbor, Ram’s Head Live is easily Maryland’s premier concert hall with the best sound, the best lights, the best staff, & the best overall vibe of any venue in the area! Ever since the old Hammerjacks closed up oh so many years ago, Baltimore kinda missed out on all the great touring bands, because we didn’t have any real venue that booked larger bands & you had to travel to Philly or DC if you wanted to see good shows, but now, with Ram’s Head Live bringing in all the best touring bands, Baltimore is a rock n roll city once more!
On April 22, 2007, Sevendust played Ram’s Head Live in support of their 7th release, “Alpha”, which is being called the bands return to their original sound...Sevendust kinda changed along the way from the release of their first CD to the present, & old-school fans began complaining that the band changed too much, so Lajon & the boys decided to go back to basics & return to the heaviness that created the bands vibe & sound from day one! On this particular tour, the band brought opening 2 opening acts...Invitro & Diecast. Invitro opened the show & they feature former Snot/Soulfly guitarist Mikey Doling, & this band was interesting to me from the moment they stepped onto the stage. The entire band came out with masks made of aluminum foil & they played a mix of hardcore & metal that was good, but the sound mix was horrible. Initially, I thought that because I was standing to the stage right that I was the only one who couldn’t hear the guitar solo’s, but as I talked to others in the crowd who were in other spots, I heard the same complaints about the band having a bad sound mixing, but regardless, for what it’s worth, I got the bands vibe, I liked them & they were a good opening act in my opinion.
Boston area natives, Diecast were 2nd on the bill & one interesting footnote about the band is that there are NO original members from when the band first formed, but regardless, Diecast is a power metal act that had a great sound, mix wise & musically these guys just shred! Paul Stoddard, the bands lead singer, is a big guy with an even bigger voice..he can scream with the best of them & he can also sing really well too! The 2 surprises in the bands set was when Paul did a song which was TOTALLY mellow with just a keyboard & it was a direct contrast to the pure metal mayhem of the bands set, & one of the last songs they did was a cover of “Dangerzone” which you might know best from the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun movie! Honestly, when Diecast finished, the place was really worked up, there was a good mosh pit going, & when the band finished their set, it was definitely the calm before the storm, because Sevendust were about to tear things up very shortly! After the Diecast’s set, I was walking through the crowd & it was pretty cool to run into Afreudianslip’s lead singer Billy Fisher after just seeing him the prior night when the band played Fletcher’s & I also ran into Rest Amongst Ruin’s bass player. An interesting footnote about going to see shows in Baltimore, is that you almost always run into local band members at every show.
After about 30 minutes of downtime, Sevendust took the stage with “Hero” & all hell totally broke loose as new guitarist Sonny Mayo, bassist Vinnie H., & guitarist John Connolly took the front of the stage by storm, while drummer Morgan Rose, now sporting black dreads & small X’s under his eyes bashed the drums relentlessly from the back of the stage, & singer Lajon Witherspoon took the center stage like a rabid tiger looking for meat! The band played a good mix of new & old fan favorites, & I thought it was pretty cool to note that Lajon was sporting a “DAD” belt buckle, because you get a total sense of family from this Georgia based band...they are southern boys that play loud, mean rock, but they also have heart, melody, & they definitely do what they do well! The highlight of the night for me was when they did “Angels Son” & it was dedicated to the singer of Snot who passed away far too soon, & the song was done a Capella basically & it was easily the most touching moment of the night! Sevendust had an interesting bonus for fans on this tour..if you bought your tickets online, you had the option of buying “meet the band” passes...from what I was told, everyone bought those passes were allowed to get one item autographed, but no pics with the band were permitted. Infact, I might preface this review with a fact that alot of people do not really understand..for the most part, Ram’s Head Live does not allow camera’s or photography in the venue..there are exceptions, but I would highly advise you to call & check first, because most shows are NO PHOTO’S & they do enforce that rule! If you missed this show, you definitley missed one amazing night of metal!