STATIC X : SEVENDUST SICK NEW WORLD SIDESHOW with DOPE and LINES OF LOYALTY

STATIC X SEVENDUST DOPE LINES OF LOYALTY

SICK NEW WORLD SIDE SHOW

THE PEARL THEATER, LAS VEGAS

I attended another highly anticipated Sick New World side show, this time inside the SOLD OUT 2800 capacity Pearl Theater inside the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, with a stacked lineup that included STATIC X, SEVENDUST, DOPE and LINE OF LOYALTY.

LINE OF LOYALTY was a band I had not seen before, who hail all the way from Kenosha, WI. This was a tough show for a band who has never played here before, unlike the other three bands who have all played Vegas quite a few times. They were solid, even though their sound in my opinion did not fit the vibe of the other bands on this bill, they are a bit more melodic, nu-metal. The band consists of Glenn “Nubz” Morrison on vocals / guitar, Redo Inna on bass/vocal and Brayden Pike on Drums, and gave a great intro for the havier bands to come. They have a new debut album our now, Hurts to be Human, check it and and find out more on this band HERE.

DOPE is one of my long time perennial favorites, and this was by far the largest venue I have ever seen them play. Led by Edsel Dope on lead vocals and guitars, with Jamie “Madrox” Spaniolo from Twizted on bass, Daniel Fox on guitar and Chris Warner on drums, the band kicked off their set to the driving sound of “Blood Money”, followed by “Bring it On”. Edsel told the crowd that they figured "they would warm up here for Saturdays' Sick New World show", and thanked the crowd for coming out to see the bands tonight, asking "how many live in Vegas..?" and seemed surprised how many said YEAH! He told the audience it was years ago that Static X & Sevendust took Dope on the road for the first time, and to this day they are family. Edsel did comment that Sick New World Festival was fucking ridiculous having so many bands play a one day festival (lol) and it should be a two day event, before getting back to business. The band played a relatively quick set, and raged with "Die MF Die" and "Burn, when Edsel told the crowd that they were going to play the stupidest song they ever heard in “You Spin Me Right Round”. One thing about a Dope concert is Edsel will tell it like it is, and play exactly what the crowd came to hear.

SEVENDUST brought the best show by them I have ever seen, blowing the roof off the Pearl Theater. It;s been nine years since I last saw Sevendust, and that was in a small 600 capacity venue. frontman Lajon Witherspoon looks like he has not aged a day in years, and the band was tight and had the crowd on their feet their entire set. Lajon asked the crowd to form a circle, as massive smoke canons, along with huge video screens, surrounded the stage. I remember 30 years ago cranking up Sevendust on my large boombox at work, blown away their sound. I still am.

A real touching moment was when Lajon actually got choked up and told the crowd they were amazing, and that he wanted to take them on the road with the band. With a set that included such Sevendust staples as "Denial", and "Bitch", as well as "Truth Killer" from last years LP of the same name, it was hard to stand still, the classic songs sound as fresh as the new. Lajon asked if the crowd would sing along to a song they wrote "150,000 years ago" and blasted into “Black”, and the band wound downand closed out their incredible set with “Face to Face”, as Lajon told the crowd that "you live in a magical place and always make us feel like family”. Check out Sevendust's Truth Killer HERE.

Headliners STATIC X roared onto the stage with the driving guitar sound of “Hollow” followed by “Terminator Oscillator”, and XerO came out standing high up on a podium, as Evil Disco flashed on flaming video screens and smoke cannons blasted away at everything. Xer0 told the crowd, (they) figured they would party their asses off here and then do it all over again tomorrow at Sick New World. Static X has evolved over

the years to a headlining band with a very impressive stage show, that is both futuristic and comic bookish all in one, the elements visible in frontman Xer0. The show is intense, and things really got going with classic “Wisconsin Death Trip”, and you could not help flashing back to Wayne Static with that crazy hair and sideburns jumping up and down when they played this back in the day. Near the end of the set they played “Cold”, with a video on the screens behind the band showing Wayne singing along, really comparing the past and present eras.

The band threw giant inflated balls into the crowd with “Stupid”, and closed out the show with classic, “Push It”, and had the crowd going into a near frenzy. Bassist Tony Compos thanked Vegas and all the bands for a night to remember, it was an honor and a privilege to share the stage with Sevendust, and that Wayne would have been stoked too. Does anybody not like Sevendust? An amazing stacked show, and it was an honor to see such legendary bands playing together again.

Static X just released part 2 of Project Regeneration earlier this year, with band Koichi Fukuda (guitars), Ken Jay (drums) and Tony Campos (bass), and Xer0, featuring more unreleased material written and recorded by the late Wayne Static. "Z0mbie" made the sideshow set, and you can hear more from this new release and band info HERE.