Thursday night The Forge in Joliet Illinois was filled for a no frills rock and roll show by Brother Cane!
It was an absolutely beautiful day out, sunny and 70, finally feeling like spring! The construction on one of the bridges in Joliet is finally finished so I ended up getting to The Forge earlier than expected! So I went in and ended up chatting with one of the opening bands We Killed The Lion for a bit, mostly their merch girl who happens to work at a school and still came to a show on Thursday! From what I understand they have played The Forge a few times but this is their first time back since Covid started and they honestly couldn’t wait to play this show! I have to say both opening bands did great! And it so happens both We Killed The Lion and Sunvolume are three piece bands! Which is not something you see a lot, but they totally killed it!
Sunvolume was formed in Illinois 2020 during Covid, the band has released Fever In The Funkhouse. The band’s sound mixes genres from Hard Rock, Hip-Hop, Grunge, and even Electronica in their sound. These influences give this powerhouse trio a very unique and individual sound.
Sunvolume:
Justin Sanetra – Guitar/Vocals
Jimmy Russell – Bass
Brett Sassettim- Drums
We Killed The Lion, another Chicago band that was formed in 2011. We Killed The Lion has released three studio albums with a Final Stand which was released the day before this show!
We Killed The Lion:
Brian Lorenc – Guitar/Vocals
I probably need to explain why I called this a “no frills rock and roll show”! I guess I could technically start with both opening bands being three pieces, but honestly it was because of one of my friends who came to the show! My friend Robert and his wife Jamie were traveling to Ohio from Minnesota and saw that I was covering the show and decided to stop by and check it out! Robert plays guitar himself so he had heard of Brother Cane and Damon Johnson but clearly hadn’t seen either before! He was just amazed by Damon Johnson! After the show Robert was telling me “all of that was coming from him(Damon Johnson), he was the only guitar on stage!” in amazement! I might have created a new fan boy! Which is generally my goal in life, to corrupt people with my awesome music! In all seriousness this was actually my first time seeing Brother Cane but I had seen Damon Johnson before so I knew what I was in for! A night of no frills, raw rock and roll! Time to talk about the other members in the band, I’m familiar with the drummer Jarred pope from seeing him with Tom Keifer, but he has also played with Beasto Blancon, Thompson Square and Damon Johnson lates solo album! On Keys is Buck Johnson who is a multi-instrumentalist who’s performed with Aerosmith, The Hollywood Vampires, and country rock group Whiskey Falls! Damon Johnson introduced the bassist Glenn Maxey as being the main reason there even is a Brother Cane! Apparently Damon “stole” him from a cover band many years ago and has been with him ever since! Incase you don’t already know Damon Johnson from a “little” band called Thin Lizzy you might recognize him from Alice Cooper or Black Star Riders! As I lightly touched on earlier Damon Johnson released a killer solo album last year called ‘Battle Lessons’ which they played a tune off of at the show! I rather liked how Damon Johnson said he “normally doesn’t do this encore thing”, but they did that night! They played a Tom Petty and of course a Thin Lizzy tune to end the show! Definitely a show not to be missed, filled with great tunes and stellar musicians!
Band:
Damon Johnson – Lead vocals and guitar
Glenn Maxey – Bass
Buck Johnson – Keyboard
Jarred Pope – Drumms
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I’m a local photographer and artist from the Joliet IL area. I have been photographing for over 5 years and specialize in events and natural portraits.
There are many different kinds of photographers out there that have very different pictures. Some create images, some make scenes, I capture moments!
As an avid rock n roll fan, I love capturing the energy of concerts! That being said, I always strive for a great crowd shot! The band is the main focus, but they wouldn’t be there if not for their fans!