The Rock Resurrection Tour made a stop at The Orlando Amphitheater located in The Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, November 25, 2023. The Rock Resurrection Tour is composed of bands Skillet and Theory Of A Deadman alternating nights headlining with Saint Asonia in support.
The Orlando Amphitheater is an open-air venue with lawn seating and a general admission standing room on a concrete pad. The property is on the shore of Lawne Lake which sometimes sends winds with a chill in the air coming off the lake. The rain held off at the starting time of 7:00 pm, and there was still a slight drizzle as the temperatures were dropping and a cold front was coming into Central Florida. Luckily the wind was not blowing which was a plus, but the temperatures were in the high 60’s and light jackets were in order.
Saint Asonia was the first band up and the standing crowd welcomed the opportunity to at least dance and move in place to get the blood circulating. This band is fronted by vocalist and guitar player Adam Gontier, formerly of the band Three Days Grace. Gontier left Three Days Grace in 2013 but has reunited with the band twice this fall for a couple of shows. The rest of the band, bassist Cale Gontier, lead guitarist Tavis Stanley, and drummer Cody Watkins were formerly with the Canadian band Art Of Dying. Staind lead guitarist Mike Mushok is listed as a member online, but not for this show. It really didn’t matter as Tavis Stanley was awesome. The band as a whole was tight, energetic, and extremely good starting the night on a very high note.
The audience was very receptive to the band and the material. They played two Three Days Grace Covers, “Never Too Late” and “I Hate Everything About You.” Gontier had the crowd eating out of his hand as they danced and sang along with him. Knowing he was on a role, he added “I Don’t Care” from his brief stay with the band Apocalyptica from the album Worlds Collide which was released in 2007. This band was touted as a supergroup when I researched it, but either way, this is a really great band, and everyone loved their set!
Band Members:
Adam Gontier – lead vocals, rhythm guitar Three Days Grace
Cale Gontier – bass, backing vocals Art of Dying
Cody Watkins – drums, percussion Art of Dying
Tavis Stanley – lead guitar Art of Dying
Setlist:
1.) Better Place
2.) Above It All
3.) Devastate
4.) Never Too Late (Three Days Grace cover)
5.) I Hate Everything About You (Three Days Grace cover)
6.) I Don’t Care (Apocalyptica cover)
7.) Wolf
8.) Let Me Live My Life
Theory of a Deadman is no stranger to the Central Florida stages as they seem to find their way here every year from their home up in Canada. To get the audience fired up, Neil Diamond’s, “Sweet Caroline” came blaring through the PA system and the fans responded by singing in kind. Theory Of A Deadman came onto the stage with the title track “Dinosaur” off their latest album of the same name. The second song was a crowd favorite “Bitch Came Back” and the sing-along continued. In the fifth song, Tyler Connolly was left alone on stage to perform a beautiful rendition of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. I have seen Theory four times; this was a first for me to see Connolly play this moving rendition. The show was filled with a lot of firsts for me. Many covers, and many times Connolly and the band would teasingly start a cover, then stop when the crowd started to get into it and sing. Connolly remained very playful the entire show, even playing Garth Brook’s “Friends in Low Places”. At the end he pretended Brooks was backstage and was coming out to join the band for a song, then apologized by saying he must have sent the message to the wrong account, one that didn’t have a blue check by it.
I had never seen this side of Tyler Connolly and Theory Of A Deadman. They were obviously having fun and so was everyone in attendance.
Band Members:
Tyler Connolly – Lead Vocals/Lead and Rhythm Guitar/Piano
Dave Brenner – Rhythm and Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals
Dean Back – Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals
Joey Dandeneau – Drums/Backing Vocals
Setlist:
1.) Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond cover)
2. Dinosaur
3.) Bitch Came Back
4.) Two of Us (Stuck)
5.) Lowlife
6.) Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover)
7.) Nutshell (Alice in Chains cover)
8.) Santa Monica
9.) Don’t Stop Believin’ (Journey cover)
10.) All or Nothing
11.) Ambulance
13.) Friends in Low Places (Garth Brooks cover)
14.) Angel
15.) Hate My Life
16.) Rx (Medicate)
17.) Paradise City (Guns N’ Roses cover)
18.) Song 2 (Blur cover)
19.) Bad Girlfriend
Drummer Jen Ledger came out on stage and gave the crowd a wave as she climbed up on the drum kit. Then the rest of Skillet burst on the stage with high energy starting the set with “Feel Invincible” off their 2016 album, Unleashed. Skillet is known as a Christian metal band to most, but they are a high-energy band with empowering lyrics leaving out the dark lyrics of most metal bands.
Korey Cooper on rhythm guitar is always in motion and feeling every note as she bangs away on the guitar strings. Her husband, John, is a larger-than-life man as he stands and sings center stage. At the start of the third song, “Surviving the Game,” he straps smoke cannons to his wrists shooting smoke into the air above the crowd as the fans roared in appreciation. The fifth song “Awake and Alive” was a highlight that featured Jen Ledger on vocals as she came from behind the drums amidst smoke cannons firing off along the front edge of the stage. The lighting and effects added so much to the show that everyone was visually and audibly stimulated, and they let the band know their appreciation by clapping and cheering.
I love covering Skillet shows as they are uplifting, fun, and great to photograph and all members of the band give everything they have to their performance in every show, never taking a night off.
Band Members:
John Cooper – Lead Vocals/Bass/Acoustic Guitar/Keyboards
Korey Cooper – Rhythm Guitar/Keyboards/Synthesizers/Backing Vocals
Jen Ledger – Drums/Backing/Occasional Lead Vocals
Seth Morrison –Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals
Setlist:
1.) Feel Invincible
2.) Rise
3.) Surviving the Game
4.) Legendary
5.) Awake and Alive
6.) Hero
7.) Not Gonna Die
8.) Whispers in the Dark
9.) Psycho In My Head
10.) Be Thou My Vision (Eleanor Hull cover)
11.) Comatose
12.) Finish Line (with Adam Gontier)
13.) Monster
14.) Rebirthing
15.) The Resistance
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Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.
