SEVENDUST - JULY 19, 1997, LAWRENCE, KANSAS

Sevendust was in the area a couple weeks ago playing a show in Mankato with Disturbed, Korn, In This Moment, and Stillwell. This seemed like an opportune time to dust off from my vault of uncirculated concerts a gem from the early Sevendust days.

Click to watch Sevendust open the show with "Black".

Transferred directly from the master VHS-C tape, this show captures Sevendust when they were a baby band just trying to survive on the road soon after the release of their debut album. This show was in the midst of a tour supporting Coal Chamber with Powerman 5000, but both bands canceled on this night. Coal Chamber bailed to attend an MTV awards show for which they were nominated, and I believe Powerman 5000's bus or van broke down. Ticket refunds were offered, but Sevendust's dumpy RV showed up and they played as a headliner for little or no cover charge. Being the last band standing on the bill, Sevendust stepped up and delivered an hour-long set to about 30 people where they played every song from the debut album. During their "Covers Medley", the band has some fun and riffs on King Kobra, Dio, Ratt, Powerman 5000, Coal Chamber, and Black Sabbath. Despite the poor attendance, the band played like the bar was full and were genuinely appreciative of the support as they hung out to chat with everyone after the show. The stage lighting in the video is poor, but the sound quality is excellent. Most of these songs haven't been in Sevendust's live set for years, so this is a real treat if you're a fan of old Sevendust!

Click to watch Sevendust perform "Prayer".

Click to watch Sevendust play around during "Covers Medley".

Sevendust - July 19, 1997, Lawrence, KS, The Bottleneck

Loco In Lawrence

Set list:
1. Black
2. Speak
3. Terminator
4. Will It Bleed
5. My Ruin
6. Wired
7. Born To Die
8. Face
9. Prayer
10. Too Close To Hate
11. Covers Medley
12. Bitch


Click on the link to download the text file that contains download links for both the audio (mp3@192 kbps) and video (mov, H.264, 640x480) files for the entire show. If you prefer, all the video can be streamed over on my YouTube channel. As always, please share the link to this post rather than the text file - it's much appreciated!

https://rapidshare.com/files/457593095/sevendust_19970719.txt

Powerman 5000 Returns To Maplewood

As part of an ongoing promotional campaign for Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere, Powerman 5000 has announced a return engagement at The Rock in Maplewood on Thursday, June 10. Support bands have not been announced at this time.

Powerman 5000 Album Review

Powerman 5000 – Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere

Mighty Loud/Fontana, 2009

8/10

The last ten years have certainly been rough for Powerman 5000, with constant lineup changes and commercial highs and lows. Credit must be given to band leader and frontman Spider One (Michael Cummings) for persevering under conditions that would cause most bands to fold. The band’s sixth full length album, Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere, finds them continuing the industrial metal formula that helped make 1999’s Tonight The Stars Revolt! release a huge success. Spider One still has the remarkable talent of writing catchy, memorable songs that beg for your attention. After a short introduction track, “Show Me What You’ve Got” kicks the album off in high gear and is quickly followed by the bouncing, infectious “Super Villain” and “V Is For Vampire”. Another trio of songs, “Do Your Thing”, “Time Bomb”, and “Make Us Insane”, don’t quite rise the level of those aforementioned but fit well with the style and pace of the record. The only letdowns are the title track and closer “Horror Show”, which plod along and distract from the album’s high energy feel. So what we’ve got is undeniably enjoyable album with only a couple below average tracks. Frankly, the quality of this record took me by surprise as I was one of many long ago wrote Powerman 5000 off. Fans of Static-X, Rob Zombie, and Dope would take a quick liking to Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere and the album is highly recommended for those who enjoy melodic industrial metal. Really, the only reason I can think of as to why radio shuns Powerman 5000 these days is the lack of a major label marketing budget. The band continues to deliver the goods, and they have succeeded in releasing an outstanding album.

Powerman 5000 will be appearing at The Rock in Maplewood on Monday, October 26. Support will come from No Conviction, Nuisance, and Tepetricy.