Saint Asonia and Black Stone Cherry @ Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY 2-28-24

Its been a few months but BackstageAxxess is back kicking off 2024 show coverage in a big way. A cool bill of Saint Asonia and Black Stone Cherry had a stop in Buffalo on their current tour this past Wednesday night.

First up was Black Stone Cherry. The band has been on tour supporting their 8th studio effort titled ‘Screamin’ at the Sky.’ BSC are one of the most energetic and solid bands you will see live. They definitely didn’t disappoint and held true to form on this night. The band balanced the set with some new tracks and some old familiar favorites. This is the first time checking out the new bass player in Steve Jewell Jr. He seemed to fit seamlessly in as its been almost 3 years now since he has been part of BSC lineup. The first single off of the latest record “Nervous,” went over super well. Vocalist and guitarist Chris Robertson and guitarist Ben Wells were making jokes about the weather being cold and them being from Kentucky and how they couldn’t deal with it on a daily basis. They appreciated all the fans coming out and said that included the Bills Mafia, who gave chants during the show. A cool cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason” was played and I really dug the new vibe that the band gave this 30 plus year old track. Always one of my personal favorites is “Blame It on the Boom Boom.” This is crowd pleasing track that got everyone involved in singing with the band. Both Robertson and Jewell Jr. switched instruments for the last part of “Lonely Train.” Again, a sold performance by one of the most most underrated bands out on the touring circuit.

Headlining the show as Saint Asonia. They took the stage at 10:20pm and played a rocking hour set that consisted of their own tracks and songs from vocalist Adam Gontier’s former projects (Three Days Grace and Apocalyptica). Due to guitarist Mike Mushok’s other commitments, guitarist Tavis Stanley is filling in for him on the tour. The ripping “Above It All opened things up. I always though Gontier has one of the best voices in rock and hearing him sing the few songs, I knew it was going to be a great night for the fans in attendance. In the middle of the set, Gontier talked about going back and doing some tracks from our past projects. That’s where they played 2 Three Days Grace songs and a song Gontier sang lead on that was huge it for Apocalyptica called “I Don’t Care.” The band did a odd choice for a cover few years ago when they covered pop star The Weeknd “Blinded by the Light’s.” They played it live too and its seemed to go over well. They closed their set with a high intense version of “Let Me Live My Life.”

Again, this was a cool billing! Glad I was able to start the 2024 season in great way in checking out both of these terrific bands live!

Saint Asonia setlist:

Above It All

Better Place

The Hunted

Chew Me Up

Wolf

Never Too Late (Three Days Grace cover)

I Hate Everything About You (Three Days Grace cover)

I Don’t Care (Apocalyptica cover)

So What

Say Goodbye