WORDS WILL MAXWELL / IMAGES JOE JONES
Skillet‘s sound belongs in this Arena setting. John Cooper (vocals), Korey Cooper (guitar), Seth Morrison (guitar) Jen Ledger (drums) get things going with “Feel Invincible”. This perfectly sets the tone for the rest of their set. The Christian Rockers deliver a set full of uplifting anthems, with tracks like “Rise”, “Legendary” and “Alive” giving us the fist-pumping feel-good vibes that get the crowd nicely warmed up.
John Cooper has a commanding stage presence and, at one point, takes charge of the pyrotechnics himself. He also points out a fan in the crowd, who he had met just before the show, who told him how Skillet’s music had helped him in his battle with alcoholism. It’s easy to see how these tracks, packed with messages of resilience and hope, resonate with so many people.
The highlight of the set is “Monster”. The hugely popular track – 781 million streams on Spotify – is unsurprisingly met with the biggest reaction of the night, which has the entire Ao Arena floor bouncing. A triumphant set from the Memphis, Tennessee rockers.
The lights go out and it’s time for our headline act. A big white curtain covers the stage, but there’s no hiding the fact Black Stone Cherry have arrived, as the kick-ass intro to “Me and Mary Jane” reverberates around the Arena. The fans are in fine voice already and huge cheers erupt when the curtain finally drops.
The boys from Kentucky are unashamedly old school. There are no backing tracks here; the speakers are turned up to eleven, and it’s an in-your-face explosion of rock as they rip through “Burnin’ and Again”.
Chris Robertson (vocals, guitar), Ben Wells (guitar), Steve Jewell Jr (bass), and John Fred Young (drums) all have great stage presence. Chris frequently interacts with the audience, whilst Ben and Steve patrol the stage, which tonight has a ramp leading around the back, where Steve is hammering the drums to within an inch of their life.
That’s no more evident than on “Out of Pocket”, arguably their heaviest song. “Rain Wizard” and “Blind Man” keep us on a similar trajectory of headbanging goodness.
Eighth studio album Screamin’ At The Sky was released last year, and reached the Top Ten in the UK, with “The Mess You Made” as well received as the old favourites.
“Like I Roll” feels like the ultimate soundtrack to an American road trip, whilst things are taken down a notch with the emotional “Stay”.
No good rock show is complete without an over-the-top drum solo, with the rest of the band leaving the stage during “Cheaper To Drink Alone”, allowing John to take centre stage with a hard-hitting display that must have tested the durability of his kit to its limit.
Dedicated to his late father, Chris introduces “Things My Father Said”, inviting everyone to remember anyone they have sadly lost. Performed acoustically, it’s a really touching moment, especially when he pauses to ask everyone to light up the room with their lighters and mobile phones. The crack in his voice tells me this song will always be tough for him to perform, but exposing that side of him only strengthens the connection between him and the fans. He explains how they toured the UK shortly after he lost his dad, and how much the fans helped him through the grieving process.
Opening act Ayron Jones (who we sadly missed due to a really early set time) and John Cooper of Skillet join them for a cover of The Cult’s “American Horse”, a standalone release recorded just for this tour.
Ben takes a moment to thank the crowd. The UK has always embraced Black Stone Cherry, but he says Manchester was the first place he ever saw someone in the street wearing their merch, and how he excitedly called home to his parents to tell them.
Title track “Screamin’ At The Sky” follows, before a raucous “White Trash Millionaire”. A fan throws her bra at Steve, who attaches it to his guitar for the rest of the song. “Who said rock and roll was dead?!”
“Lonely Train” and “Blame It On The Boom Boom” bring this truly glorious night of hard rock to an end, but not before the usual encore and traditional set closer, “Peace is Free”. Chris goes into the crowd, with its empowering chorus sung loud and proud by everyone in attendance.
Now heading back into the studio to record a new album, Chris says it will be a while until they tour here again. We hope that we don’t have to wait too long.
SET LIST
1/ Me and Mary Jane
2/ Burnin’
3/ Again
4/ Out of Pocket
5/ Rain Wizard
6/ Blind Man
7/ The Mess You Made
8/ Like I Roll
9/ Stay
10/ Cheaper to Drink Alone
(With drum solo)
11/ Things My Father Said
(Chris alone on stage)
12/ In My Blood
13/ When the Pain Comes
14/ American Horse
(The Cult cover) (with Ayron Jones and John Cooper (Skillet))
15/ White Trash Millionaire
16/ Lonely Train
17/ Blame It on the Boom Boom
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My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
