by At The Washington State Fair, Puyallup WA
It was warm & sunny, a perfect day to go to the fair and a perfect day for a concert! Fortunately, they happened to be at the same place! The Carnival of Madness tour was making their final stop at, what used to be called, The Puyallup Fair.
First up, WEASHUMAN (We As Human), a hard rock band out of Nashville, TN. They just released their first studio album by Atlantic Records this past June 25th, self titled We As Human. It made it to two Billboard Album Charts, Christian Albums and Hard Rock. The single, Strike Back, was nominated for Best Rock Song of The Year in the 2013 GMA Dove Awards. That’s right; they’re a Christian Rock band. Who knew??
Second on the bill, In This Moment. They’re a heavy metal band out of Los Angeles. The band was formed by singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth in 2005. They’re known for the alternative, metalcore sound and, as the photos show, heavy theatrics. They’re downright entertaining for your ears and your eyes! Their latest album Blood, featuring the single Adrenalize, can be purchased on both iTunes and Amazon. The Adrenalize video was just released on July 30th and can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Next it was time for Skillet, another Christian Metal band that was formed in Memphis, TN in 2005. The band consists of the only original member, John Cooper, his wife Korey, Seth Morrison, and Jen Ledger. They’re promoting their latest album Rise, featuring the single Sick Of It, was released June 21st. They were good fun! They started the set with a violinist and cello player, both wearing masks and white tux & tails costumes. After that it was the full band & it was on! They were all over the stage… Running, dancing, & jumping around, there was no lack of energy here. There were also a row of co2 cannons in front of the stage that would go off simultaneously, for our viewing pleasure.
Finally it was time for what everyone was waiting for, Shinedown. They came out blazing, literally! In the Carnival of Madness spirit, they opened with a full-on fire show. There were fire eaters, spinners, twirlers, and pyro canons in the back. Everyone had great costumes, too! They all had a sort of creepy-clown, steam-punk circus look, it was awesome. Even the bass drum had an old carnival-mechanical-type image on the front. And to top it all off, lead singer Brent Smith was decked out in the best circus master suit, ever! The sound was awesome, the look was great, it was a mad carnival alright. They played everything, too. Everything that everybody wanted to hear, and it was with spot-on sound & energy. I spoke with people that attended the show days later and the first thing everyone said was “Did you hear his vocals? They were perfect, he didn’t miss a note! Did you notice that?” And indeed, I had noticed! They were right. It was an amazing end to an amazing night of rock music. Fortunately, this is an annual event and we’ll get to see it all again next year!
Individual band photo galleries can be found at these links.
We As Human: https://www.facebook.com/
In This Moment: https://www.facebook.com/
Skillet: https://www.facebook.com/
Shinedown: https://www.facebook.com/
