SEVENDUST CONCERT EXPERIENCE!

By Kayla Harper

Sevendust and Static-X  swept through Calgary on May 9, 2024 for their Machine Killer Tour.  My family and I are really big fans of the nu-metal, hard-rock band Sevendust so we had to get tickets to see them, especially because they were playing on my birthday!

Surprisingly, Sevendust took the stage first after the opening bands played (which my family and I skipped entirely as we didn’t have much interest and were participating in other birthday celebrations), kicking off their set with the first track off of their recent album, Truth Killer, “I Might Let The Devil Win”, followed by the title track, “Truth Killer”.

The setlist was perfectly curated to include the hits and fan favourites throughout the bands large discography, including “Denial”, “Enemy”, “Black” and “Splinter” amongst others.  My family and I all left the show satisfied because we couldn’t name a song we had hoped they would play that they didn’t; they played all our favourites!

My only complaint is that the overall sound could have been turned up slightly.  However, this did not effect the quality of the show in any way.  Everything could still be heard clearly throughout the venue.  We stood at the back for the first part of the set and spent the remainder at the front and I found the sound to be exceptional from both locations.

The crowd (which seemed mellow) was excited when Sevendust took the stage, evident as a mosh pit formed and people were crowd-surfing by the third song.   My sister and I danced the entire night, screaming and crying with joy!  During the second-to-last song, “Bitch”  I found myself so overwhelmed with emotions that I started to cry (like a bitch) whilst dancing and screaming.  The final song of their set was “Face To Face” which was perhaps the most exciting.  We have been waiting years to scream :”FUCK YOUUUUU”  live.

Face To Face live (video)

All in all, Sevendust put on a wicked show.  When it ended, my family and I joked that they should play the whole set again right then and there it was so good.  After buying merch and heading out to the parking lot to get some fresh air we decided to go back in and see the techno-metal band Static-X even though we are not particularly fond of them, we had the tickets so why not?

Static-X  had intriguing visuals as the lead singer was dressed to look as if he were a machine with red glowing eyes.  However, the visuals did not make up for how terrible the band’s mix and sound was.  This may not be the band’s fault entirely, but it definitely made it hard to distinguish the music from noise.  The crowd also seemed uninterested as Static-X asked them to crowd-surf and jump and everyone just stood still (this is what I meant earlier when I said it was a mellow crowd).  These issues may have improved over the course of the show however, family and I ended up leaving half-way through their set because we simply had better things to do.

Looking back on the night, there was no better way to spend my birthday than at a Sevendust concert.  Their setlist, stage-presence and performance did not disappoint, the only thing that did is that I don’t know yet when I’ll see them live again, but I really hope I do!