Christian rock band Skillet packed the Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls this past Saturday night. The band is currently on the road in support of “Unleashed” which was released in August of 2016. They are riding a wave of great reviews of the latest disc and are now headlining their first tour.
Vocalist/bassist John Cooper now has a full beard (as depicted on their latest album cover). During the second song he attempted to throw his bass around his shoulder and the strap broke with the bass landing on the floor. Cooper and the band didn’t miss a beat. They are the same 4 piece outfit since 2011 (this also includes guitarist/keyboardist Korey Cooper, drummer Jen Ledger and lead guitarist Seth Morrison). After the first song “Feel Invincible” you can tell the band was already clicking on all cylinders from the get go.
Ledger who is a hell of a drummer, came out from behind the kit and helped Cooper sing the first verse to “Awake and Alive.” She also came out to sing “Hero” (this time the entire song) with the drum tech handling kit duties. Before the song “Those Nights,” J. Cooper talked about growing up and watching Headbangers Ball (A late night show on Saturday nights that ran on MTV from the 80’s through the mid 1990’s.) He reminisced about watching Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” and that was how he got his hard rock fix. He started the song by kissing K. Cooper (yes that’s his wife in case I didn’t mention) and then ended up in the pit singing some of it with the fans in the front of the barricade.
I have to say it was a terrific production. Its the first time that I can remember seeing risers in a club show. The entire band used it including the extra musician they brought out to play violin on a few tracks.
The band makes no apologies for who they are and what they believe in. It’s apparent that the fans are believing in what they are doing as well!
Setlist:
Feel Invincible
Whispers in the Dark
Sick of It
Rise
Back From the Dead
Awake and Alive
Not Gonna Die
Hero
Those Nights
Undefeated
Comatose
The Last Night
Stars
Out of Hell
Monster
Rebirthing
Encore:
The Resistance
We would like to thank Alicia Brown from PFA Media for the credentials to review the show.
