This past Sunday, 9/22/24, I attended a concert for the nu-metal band ‘Sevendust.’ Sevendust is on tour right now celebrating the 21-year anniversary of their highly critically acclaimed 2003 album “Seasons” and are performing the entire album from cover to cover at shows. The venue was The Ritz in Raleigh. There were three opening bands: in order of appearance, two smaller/newer bands, ‘Horizon Theory’ and ‘Return to Dust,’ and one slightly larger/older band, ‘10 Years.’ The doors to the venue opened at 5:30 pm, which was about when we arrived, and the concert started at 6:30 pm. I attended with my girlfriend and two friends.
Unfortunately, I was the only person without earplugs and we were very close to the stage so my hearing and my voice were gone by the end of the night, but I had a great time. The first band, Horizon Theory, was pretty good. They played five songs. I liked their songs slightly more than the other 2 opening bands but they had the most technical difficulties. Their mics kept coming in and out and the mixing of the bass and drums was off, causing them to cut through everything else when they shouldn’t have. They had good energy through which was awesome.
The second band, Return to Dust, was probably my favorite overall besides Sevendust. They also played five songs, had zero technical issues their entire set, and they didn’t have amazing stage presence but they are also super new and dropped their first album earlier this year so they have time to figure it out. They did have amazing energy though and you could tell they were having fun. Their songs were more grungy and jammy but it fit them well. I really liked their songs and will probably continue to follow them. Also I met them all at the merch table and had a great conversation with them about Magic the Gathering because they had a card with them and their name actually came from an MTG card which I was joking about with my friends earlier in the crowd so that was pretty cool.
10 Years was probably the most underwhelming band which was crazy to me because they were also the second most well known band there. They had a couple of the same mixing and microphone issues as the first band but they were resolved pretty quickly. They played 8 songs but I only really enjoyed maybe three of them the others were just alright. Also they took longer than any of the other bands to set up which was really annoying.
Sevendust coming on was easily the best part of the show. The energy they brought immediately excited the crowd. The mixing was perfect the whole way through for their set and they had definitely turned the volume up for their amps which made everything sound so much more powerful and hard hitting. They played all 12 songs from their album ‘Seasons’ and three encore songs. I yelled the words as loud as I could to every single song. At one point, a mosh pit had formed right next to my girlfriend and I and she kept telling me she was worried she would get swallowed by it and that she was not ready to mosh yet haha. It was her first ever metal concert so that was understandable. Everyone had an amazing night and I hope to see Sevendust again next time they come to town!
Your comments on the necessity of good mixing for a live performance are apt. It is one of those things overlooked that can make or break a performance. Early on I did mixing for live shows, and my first attempts were not that great. I had to learn quickly how to do things like mic the drum kit, get the vocalist into the mix without feedback. The Grateful Dead were legendary early in their life for their mixing and sound systems. Hard to believe. Good posting about attending a live metal concert!