It was a good night to be from Metro Detroit if you like live music. At the Fillmore Detroit, we had Theory of a Deadman bring along Skillet and Saint Asonia on their Rock Resurrection Tour. Theory is celebrating their latest release Dinosaur which is charting well on Spotify, Amazon and Apple Music. Despite warnings of freezing rain, the crowds showed up in full force. The bands expressed their thanks for the devoted fans who, despite warnings, ventured out to the rock revival. Even looking in the upper balcony, it was difficult to spot an empty seat. Detroiters are hard core. You’ll need more than an ice storm to stop us from hitting a show of this magnitude.
First up to the plate was Saint Asonia. This was my first time seeing them live and man have I been missing out. The venue was already filled for their performance. I’m guessing many left their homes extra early to avoid traffic and weather delays. Typically, the crowd needs a bit of warming up in Detroit before they start to really get into the scene but SA came out firing on all cylinders and the crowd responded quickly. St Asonia really kicks a lot of ass on their own laurels but it was a big bonus to the fans to have Adam and the guys perform a handful of 3 Days Grace hits including “Never Too Late” and “I Hate Everything About You”. They even threw in a cover of Apocalyptica’s “I Don’t Care”. They put on one hell of a show and showed a sincere appreciation to the fans handing out drum sticks and guitar pics at the end of their set.
Click here to see the entire Saint Asonia gallery
Next on the bill was Skillet. Now I’ve covered Skillet personally about 5 times now and it never gets old. Skillet is a band where all the members are on 10 from beginning to end. Their recorded music is absolutely fantastic but you won’t gain a full appreciation of them until you see them live. All four members understand the importance of showmanship posing for fans and cameras and my favorite part is when John brings out the cryo-canons attached to his arms. These things come in really handy during the summer shows as they blast a snowy dousing of fog. One of the photogs in the pit was laughing historically as he got a good hosing. He was brushing the ice particles out of his hair and even had an earful. All in all, Skillet is, in my opinion, a perfect package band. Great writing, musicianship, performance, and powerful vocals even a very unassuming Jen belts out vocals while being one of the most fun drummers you’ll see perform. I can say that I’ve never seen Skillet have an off moment in all of my coverage and this night was no exception.
Click here to see the full Skillet gallery.
On the lead of the tour is another band that I have covered several times, Theory of a Deadman. Theory has a new release, Dinosaur that they are promoting on tour. It doesn’t need much promotion as it is charting highly on every platform. They opened up with their new hit Dinosaur along with all of their major hits including “Bad Girlfriend”, “Bitch Came Back”, “Rx” (Medicate) and many more. They also threw in a couple popular covers including “Wicked Game”/Chris Issac and “Friends in Low Places”/Dewayne Blackwell-Garth Brooks. Theory’s stage presence and music sounds like they are at the top of their game. Fans lined up about 2 blocks long in the freezing rain in hopes of getting close to the action. The GA pit was filled to the max with fans shoulder to shoulder singing along. Hard to believe that Theory has been churning out hits for nearly 25 years. Their music has stayed relevant and stood the test of time. The tour is worthy of a visit as they have a few stops left between here and LA. If you want to fill your ears with some killer rock tunes, if it’s been a long winter, or you just need to get out, click here to find a tour stop near you and grab some tickets. This tour will not disappoint from the time doors open until the last encore. Enjoy!
