Heavy metal giants Godsmack descended on London’s Budweiser Gardens Thursday night (May 9) with Danish rockers Volbeat and L.A. goth metal band Stitched Up Heart in tow.
Godsmack is on the road touring in support of their 2018 release When Legends Rise and opened the show with the title track from the album. The new material has that signature Godsmack sound, but also reflects the band’s maturity with less of the anger of the earlier works.
You can’t have a Godsmack show without some pyro and there was plenty throughout the night, starting with the second song, "1000hp" (from their 2014 album of the same name). The show’s biggest highlight was Sully Erna and Shannon Larkin’s drum duel, "Batalla de los tambores". Godsmack fans get served up this gem every night and it’s a drum battle worthy of praise. Although Sully is mostly known for his vocals and rhythm guitar, he originally never intended to be the frontman; he was a drummer. Thankfully, for Godsmack fans, Sully ended up out front and Shannon fit the bill perfectly behind the kit.
Later in the set Sully talked about the loss of his friends Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell and told the audience about his charity The Scars Foundation which was set up to provide support to people suffering from mental health issues. He then sat at a keyboard at center stage and performed the song "Under Your Scars" from the new album.
The show’s biggest highlight was the Sully Erna and Shannon Larkin drum duel... a drum battle worthy of praise.
During the encore, members of Volbeat and Stitched Up Heart returned to the stage to join in a performance of "Highway To Hell", with Stitched Up Heart singer Alecia “Mixi” Demner sharing vocal duties.
It’s easy to see why the Danish band, Volbeat, are co-headliners on this tour – the band playing a big 15-song hit-filled set and opened with their 2016 monster, "The Devil’s Bleeding Crown". Danko Jones, in town the same night playing the London Music Hall, made a surprise appearance on stage for the song "Black Rose".
Stitched Up Heart opened the night with an energetic set of hair swinging, head banging numbers to get the crowd’s blood flowing. Singer Alecia Demner with her miniskirt, Doc Martens, and waist length blonde hair swinging in circles puts on a great stage performance and has the voice to match.
London’s metal crowd was in fine form for this evening of world-class metal, featuring three very different bands.
