What do you get when you put a legendary band under a legendary roof? A show of epic proportion. Toads Place in New Haven, CT is literally monikered as “Where Legends Play,” and the list of artists that have graced their stage is countless. Sevendust are no stranger to Toads, and they were back again for this leg of the “All I See Is War Tour.” The 750 person capacity venue located directly next door to Yale University has been home to shows with U2, Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, Slayer, and thousands of other artists since its opening in 1975.
Supporting Tremonti and Sevendust, was Kirra, Lullwater, and Cane Hill, all amazing acts and on this tour, they all showed their true colors! From the youngsters in Kirra rocking their early set to a packed house with no jitters and meeting their new fans directly after getting off of the stage. Lullwater, the cool cats from Georgia put on one of the most remarkable shows i’ve seen for a support act in quite awhile in support of their new album Voodoo. Directly before Tremonti, was Cane Hill. No strangers to huge crowds, Cane Hill has played many festivals and absolutely warmed up this crowd with their intense energy and showmanship. All of the support on this tour was incredible.
Tremonti came on just before 8:30, a filled room was just salivating for the riffmaster Mark Tremonti to do his thing. Everyone judges people on their past, and for Mark Tremonti, that past includes Creed, where he wasn’t allowed to show his true talent as a singer or guitar player. With Tremonti, he has an amazing group of talent with him to really shine light on what a mesmerizing guitarist that he truly is. Sadly, being support on this tour, Tremonti was limited to just 45 minutes but during that period it was very intense and even the people in the crowd that didn’t know who he was now knew he wasn’t a joke. Tremonti’s newest record A Dying Machine, was released in 2018 and Mark’s skill really shows in the album and on stage. Check out the interview that our very own Cody Place conducted with Mark Tremonti before this tour kicked off HERE.
As a photographer, I tend to always do a bit of research on setlist’s, videos, and see what sort of unique things that artists do during their performances. I took a quick peek at what Sevendust had in store for the New Haven date, and boy was this city in for a treat. Sporting a solid 14 track setlist, mainly classic Sevendust and only one track, “Dirty” from All I See Is War, and only “Thank You” from their 2015 release, Kill the Flaw. The setlist was full of energetic and emotional moments as every Sevendust show usually is. Lajon Witherspoon always pumps the crowd up and finds familiar faces, all while his emotions always overtake his performance. Their one hour performance was one for the decade for the SOLD OUT crowd full of diehards.
What’s next for Sevendust? We don’t know, but what we do know is that these guys are still in their prime, and with every release, a new technique is found. We spoke to Guitarist Clint Lowery just before this tour, see what he has to say about what’s to come, not only with Sevendust, but with his solo project to be released on Rise Records. LISTEN HERE.
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