LIVE: ROCKFEST featuring STONE SOUR, ALTER BRIDGE, & SKILLET – August 7, 2017

Venue: Jackson County Fairgrounds

City: Jackson, MI

Date: August 7, 2017

Review and Photographs by: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur (www.toddstarphotography.com)

Package tours and shows are common more than ever – but county fairs and other festival type arrangements have been pulling them together for years.  The latest fair package to grab my attention was the powerhouse one-two-three punch of Stone Sour, Alter Bridge, and Skillet that the powers that be behind the Jackson County Fair in Michigan packaged for a Monday night… and the place was packed.  Getting people out on a weeknight is tough, but with these three killer bands it was easy to see why the general admission area and grandstand were full of rockers – some there to see one of their favorite bands or much like me a combination of three awesome rock bands.

Skillet kicked the evening off and they did it with style and a killer set of tunes.  This group of rockers have fun from the minute they hit the stage until they leave after their final note is played.  Pulling songs from their catalog that are fan favorites as well a others that represent the sound and feel of the band, not only when they were originally released, but today in late 2017.  Frontman and bassist (on most of the bands set) John Cooper, guitarists Korey Cooper and Seth Morrison, and timekeeper Jen Ledger are a well-oiled machine in a live setting that delivers powerful songs with precision.  In addition, there are a couple songs through the set where a cello and violin are welcomed to the stage, as well as a spare drummer kicking in behind the kit for Ledger to join John upfront for a beautiful duet that adds depth to the bands sound and performance.  If you haven’t seen the band lately, do so before they take a touring hiatus in preparation of their next set of songs and recording.

Alter Bridge is a band that does no wrong in my opinion.  With the powerhouse duo of Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti leading the charge, this foursome rocks their asses off every time I have been lucky enough to see them.  The front guys and guitarists always seem to get the most love, but this band is as tight and successful as they are in part due to the killer rhythm section of drummer Scott Phillips and bass player Brian Marshall.  These two work in tandem to keep the songs anchored and clicking along in perfect time.  With their latest disc nearing the one-year old mark – The Last Hero – the band have been touring like crazy to support the disc and have a new live and rarities collection coming to help keep the music alive and well in the mind of their fans and all rockers collectively.  Not pushing any specific agenda musically, the setlist is a perfect storm of songs from all of their studio releases.  With Tremonti taking most of the leads and solos, he does afford Kennedy the time to shine at various points throughout the set and Myles extends the same, giving Mark some time behind the microphone as well.  These guys seem to be able to do it all.  The songs are strong and seem to drive harder live than they do on the recorded versions, but they don’t deviate much, keeping the familiar arrangements and structure that the fans have come to know and love over the years.  If I had to, I couldn’t pull together a better group of songs from their catalog to feature and showcase them ion a live scenario than they have done.  Alter Bridge is one of those bands that I will make every effort to see time and time again, as I always leave the venue satisfied.

Having attended and covered Chicago Open Air in mid-July, I was excited to see Stone Sour hitting the fair for Rock Fest night.  One of my favorite performances over the course of that 3-day weekend, I was excited to see Corey Taylor and play once again in Michigan (just days after an appearance with Korn at another local venue) to rock their fans and make many more over the course of their time on stage in Jackson, MI.  The lights went out, a red hue arose in the lighting rig and draped the stage, as well as the cover of the bands latest disc which was displayed across the video wall at the back of the stage.  Each band member took his place on stage and the music kicked in while the crowd waited for the charismatic frontman Taylor to appear and grace them with his smile, his growl, and his overall rock and roll attitude.  While sticking mainly to vocals, Corey did treat the audience to an acoustic performance early in the set, but only as a moment of rest between full steam ahead rockers.  With lead guitarist Josh Rand roaming around a bit while laying down his leads and solos and Christian Martucci anchoring the guitar groove from his corner of the stage, the wall of sound that cascaded across the venue was wailing and rocking.  Drummer Roy Mayorga was thunderous behind his kit and provided the perfect tempo and cadence for the show, allowing everyone to take the spotlight for the most part, but controlling the flow of the show.  Bassist Johny Chow did his best to anchor the bottom end, and he did so with style and thumping bass lines that rocked you to your core if you were close enough to the stage to feel them as they ran through the sound system.  With songs cultivated from different releases, these guys delivered a set that was sure to please each of their fans that scooped up a ticket for the show, but you could watch as the music slowly converted fans that may have shown up to see either one of the other bands on tonight’s bill.  As the setlist wound down and the show came to a close, it was evident the band had a larger legion of fans leaving the venue than they had as the night began.

Complete set of STONE SOUR show photos HERE

STONE SOUR LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

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Complete set of ALTER BRIDGE show photos HERE

ALTER BRIDGE LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

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Complete set of SKILLET show photos HERE

SKILLET LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries