Heavy metal band Godsmack played to a sold-out show at the Convention Center Tuesday on its "Wake the Fuck Up" tour.
The Boston-based band performed songs off its triple-platinum, self-titled debut album, as well as songs "Awake," "Bad Magick" and its upcoming single "Greed," from the current platinum-certified sophomore album Awake.
Vocalist Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merill and drummer Tommy Stewart had a great stage show consisting of gargoyles, gigantic stone pillars, pyrotechnics and a backdrop movie screen that showed footage from classic vampire movies.
Godsmack entertained the crowd with a pre-show cartoon featuring the four men in cartoon form taking shots of alcohol to prepare for the show. The clever gimmick kept the audience amused while chants of, "Godsmack! Godsmack!" echoed loudly throughout the Convention Center.
Godsmack started its set with a couple instrumental pieces. Erna accompanied the songs on guitar, though he wasn't able to sing and play at the same time. Futher into the show, he yelled at the crowd, demanding more applause and noise from the fans.
Systematic, a rock band out of Oakland, Calif., opened the show. Many people may not have heard of the group yet, but they will. Systematic's songs feature a structure dominated by guitar and bass riffs provided by guitarist Adam Ruppel and bassist Nick St. Denis. Its sound, with a lot of energy and a hard rock type groove, compares to Metallica's heavy beats from the Justice for All days, with a hint of Godsmack's sound.
Systematic focuses on a gutiar-based style and tries to inject its own aggressive sound.
The group performed songs from its debut album Somewhere in Between, which is scheduled for release on May 22.
Systematic band members interacted with the audience during the show, and lead singer Tim Narducci announced that the band would be outside of the Convention Center so that he and his bandmates could meet people after the show. Ruppel even stood at front of the stage and signed autographs for the fans in the front row.
Though Godsmack headlined the tour, it seemed that if Staind was the favorite band of the night. Staind exploded onto stage with the song "Mudshovel" and had everyone cheering until the end of the set.
Lead singer Aaron Lewis made the audience feel his emotions by the way he carried himself throughout the performance, with a statuesque pose of someone in dire pain. Lewis' voice was just as powerful when he sang slowly and soothingly to an upbeat tempo as it was when he lashed out with enraged screams.
Lewis alternately crooned and shrieked his way through "Crawl," "Spleen" and "Raw," while guitarist Mike Mushok managed to captivate the crowd with his spastic movements and unique style of guitar playing.
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Lewis grabbed the crowd's attention when he pulled out his acoustic guitar for a solo performance. The audience erupted with cheers as he strummed his guitar to the new single "Outside," which will be on the band's new release Break the Cycle. The CD will be in stores in the early spring. For more information, visit Staind's Web site at www.staind.com.
