POP EVIL ripped through a ten song set that included their hits “Boss’ Daughter”, “Torn 2 Pieces”, and, of course, “Trenches”. Vocalist Leigh Kakaty described "Trenches" as having changed their lives forever. He said “What do you do when the Super Bowl calls?” Now if we could just get the Super Bowl to feature a decent band rather than the usual garbage during halftime, ugh…that’s a topic for another day. Altogether it was the typical, leave it all on stage performance from POP EVIL that flowed without a hitch.

http://popevil.com/home/

Setlist:

• “Deal With the Devil”
• “Divide”
• “Hero”
• “Flawed”
• “Torn 2 Pieces”
• “Goodbye My Friend”
• “Sick Sense”
• “Boss’ Daughter”
• “Last Man Standing”
• “Trenches”

STONE SOUR blazed through a lengthy set that covered all facets and eras of the group. From “30/30-150” to “Through the Glass” – they executed each song with precision. Corey Taylor was Corey Taylor. He admitted that he had been under the weather for the past few days but I don’t think anyone noticed. From guttural screams to soothing melodic vocals, he pulled it off in typical Corey Taylor fashion. During “Bother” the crowd became so vocal that it was difficult to even hear Corey, leaving him speechless and obviously moved by the audience’s performance. The fans even managed to sing both the lead parts and backing parts at the same time during the latter part of the song-something I had never witnessed before.

STONE SOUR ended their set with a cover of “Love Gun”. Before announcing the song-which was the band’s “Cover of the night”, Corey Taylor did a very good impersonation of Paul Stanley that had everyone in attendance laughing. He said that the song was in honor of KISS finally making it into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. STONE SOUR followed it up by encoring with “Gone Sovereign” and “Absolute Zero”. It was a great way to kick off my 2014 concerts. All three bands put on fantastic shows that pleased the scores of fans that endured typical Cleveland weather in order to just be there. If this tour is rolling into your city, do not miss it.

http://www.stonesour.com/

Setlist:

• “The House of Gold and Bones”
• “RU486”
• “Say You’ll Haunt Me”
• “Black John”
• “Inhale”
• “Made of Scars”
• “Mission Statement”
• “The Travelers, Pt. 1”
• “Tired”
• “Through the Glass”
• “Gravesend”
• “30/30-150”
• “Nutshell” (ALICE IN CHAINS Cover)
• “Bother”
• “Blue Smoke”
• “Do Me a Favor”
• “Love Gun” (KISS Cover)

• “Gone Sovereign”
• “Absolute Zero”

All Photos By Geoff Ketler/Steve Keller - Aces High Photography