Sevendust sure does draw a large, passionate crowd! As I drove up to the venue right at doors opening time of 7:00pm and the line to get in was extensive! The Foundry is a modern and nice venue with organized parking and a very managed process for getting everyone in the door. Good start, so far…
The venue was a standing room only venue and unfortunately without a dedicated photo pit so securing a spot to get a good vantage point for photographs was definitely a challenge. Besides Sevendust and Seven Year Witch there was a local Greenville band called the Black River Rebels opening the evening. All three bands delivered an energetic set with great crowd response. As the Black River Rebel banner stated, “Raisin’ Hell”!
The Black River Rebels are a four piece band with a fun stage presence and a good ‘ole rock sound. Although I hadn’t heard this band before, it was nice to be introduced to a local Greenville act that has a lot of talent. There was a girl in the crowd with a camera and after seeing her singing every lyric to every song I had to assume that she is someone who knows this band well. They commanded the audience well and put on a great show. I was able to move around a bit but not much. The venue was getting pretty packed during their set and as an opening act, they did a great job. I look forward to seeing this band more in the future and I could tell that this was a hometown crowd for them!
Black River Rebels
Wade Bowers – Vocals and Guitar
Robert Dirr – Guitar
David Disaster – Bass
Brad Snipes – Drums
Seven Year Witch were the next band up and I believe I learned about them from one of my fellow All Music Magazine contributor colleagues. What an energetic and fun band. The 80’s hair along with the constant movement and antics on-stage made for a great show. A bit of humor and a lot of energy I would say that this is one of my favorite bands to photograph these days. Before the show, I downloaded and listened to their debut album and it is just a great, straightforward rock record that is worth getting a hold of. At times I thought they were going to run into each other but, obviously they knew each other’s on-stage antics and were prepared for it without looking choreographed at all. Just a very tight band that know each other well and share a common ground on what sight and sound should be. This band is going to get much bigger and are definitely worth checking out. The best part is that they are a somewhat local South Carolina band that played like they were playing to a hometown audience.
Seven Year Witch
Aaron Langford – Vocals
Seth Burden – Drums
Spence Burden – Bass
Beau Anderson – Guitar
Sevendust is a band that I have photographed in New York, Nashville and now South Carolina. Some of my best friends are two of the biggest Sevendust fans I have ever known. The energy from this band is always at an ultra-high level and the musicianship is second to none. The fans in The Foundry this night knew that as well and I haven’t seen a fan base as passionate (and crazy) since I saw Slayer in Madison Square Garden in 1989! The pure vocals of Lajon Witherspoon and the contrasting harsh vocals of Morgan Rose give this show such a well rounded sound. They compliment each other so well with Clint Lowery and John Connelly filling in the backup vocals. Such an in-your-face band with great showmanship and stage presence. I always love seeing Sevendust live. The only issue, as a photographer without a photo pit, was that during the first song I found myself in a swirling mosh pit about fifteen feet (three meters) from the stage. If I didn’t have thousands of dollars of camera gear on me it wouldn’t have been a big deal but this crowd was “passionate” to put it lightly. I was approved to shoot the first three songs and that’s what I did. I stayed in that spot, the best I could, for the first three songs and then had to figure out how to get out of that situation! All ended well but I didn’t stay any longer. The venue, honestly, was not big enough for a band as big as Sevendust. It was a great venue and they were well organized but not for a photographer with a job to do. I wish I could have stayed for the whole show but I did enjoy Sevendust and the other bands that evening. This is a show you don’t want to miss and knowing what to expect can be very helpful. Have fun!
Sevendust
Lajon Witherspoon – Vocals
Clint Lowery – Guitar and Vocals
Morgan Rose – Drums and Vocals
John Connelly – Guitar and Vocals
Vince Hornsby – Bass
Set List:
1. Face to Face
2. Denial
3. Crucified
4. Praise
5. Fence
6. Disgrace
7. Angel’s Son
8. Black
9. Waffle
10. Shine
Encore:
11. Pieces
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Scott Diussa is a photographer, guitarist, bassist, videographer and audio engineer based in the Nashville, Tennessee area. Scott has been photographing concerts since 1994 and has a degree in commercial photography. You can follow Scott on Instagram at @sdiussa. www.scottdiussa.com
