Slaughter came to Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino on Halloween night for a free show in the Wolf Den. Being Halloween, I was unsure how the crowd turnout would be, but when pulling into the casino parking lot, it looked pretty empty. However, when entering the casino and getting close to the Wolf Den, there was a long line of people waiting for the doors to open. Fans were dressed in their favorite concert tees, and lots of denim and leather. By the time the band came on stage a few minutes after 8:00 pm, the venue had filled to capacity and there were still many people standing around the outside perimeter on the casino floor watching from there.
Slaughter hit the stage, and right from the start it was hit after hit from their 26-year catalog until the end of the setlist. Fans were singing along to their favorite songs such as “Fly to the Angels”, “Mad About You”, “Up All Night”, “Spend My Life” and many more. Mark Slaughter still sounds good singing all of the songs from a time we can only wish we could go back to. Dana Strum is a monster on the bass and puts on a non-stop show for the fans. Speaking of putting on a show, Jordan Cannata must pound a few energy drinks before he goes on stage. If you’ve never seen him perform, you are missing out. He commands attention as he is throwing sticks up, slamming the cymbals like he is hitting a baseball, or jumping off the rockery behind the stage onto his drum seat. Jeff Blando is also no slouch when it comes to stage presence, as can be seen in many of my photos. During the middle of the set, they slowed things down a little, and Mark sang “Days Gone By” solo while playing the guitar. Partway through the song, Dana came out and added a little depth to the song on his bass before Jordan and Jeff came back on stage to finish out the song with the crowd singing along. They ended their set of original music with “Up All Night” before performing a partial rendition of The Who‘s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” to a standing ovation.
As always, Slaughter packs the Wolf Den and keeps their fans singing along and wanting more. You can find their upcoming tour dates here.
Slaughter is:
Mark Slaughter – Lead vocals, guitar
Jeff Blando – Lead guitar, backing vocals
Dana Strum – Bass, backing vocals
Jordan Cannata – Drums
Setlist:
1. Mad About You
2. Burnin’ Bridges
3. Spend My Life
4. “Unknown”
5. Eye to Eye
6. Drum solo
7. The Wild Life
8. Desperately
9. Days Gone By (Mark)
10. Real Love
11. Fly to the Angels
12. Up All Night
13. Won’t Get Fooled Again (The Who Cover partial) outro finale
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