While we’ve been playing Dirty Honey, When I’m Gone, pretty much since it released, I’ve not had a chance to dig deeper. Seeing them live just didn’t present itself yet. All that changed last Sunday (10/20/19) when they opened up for Alter Bridge and Skillet at the legendary Bomb Factory in Dallas. Their stage presence was of veteran stature and talent on display for all to see and appreciate. If anyone skipped the opening band on this tour you will most certainly regret it. I’ve now become a full-fledged Dirty Honey Man and will be following up with a review of their EP. For now, I’ll stick to the live performances from Sunday.
Shooting from the pit, you get the first 3 songs and not much time to really just sit and jam. For Dirty Honey, you do it anyway. After leaving the pit, every single photographer was a rabid fan and paid close attention to the rest of the set. Heads moving to the quick pace of the energetic music and when done, you’re left wanting more. Well played, Dirty Honey. Well played!
Alter Bridge took the stage next up and words just seem to get in the way here. I had seen the set list ahead of time and while I would have loved to see Before Tomorrow Comes and Breath Again on there, I also must admit I didn’t expect them to include those. The mix however was varied with Metalingus (2004) Rise Today (2007), Addicted to Pain (2013 circa) and coming back to 2004 with Open Your Eyes, there was something for everyone from their entire book of hits.
With several albums under their belt since their 2004 inception in Orlando Florida, their overall growth and fanbase has spread to certainly global proportions. It shows this night at The Bomb Factory as the fan base was split up between AB and Skillet. It was most certainly a double headliner type show.
Given about 20 minutes to catch our breath before Skillet took the stage, and after the first 2 sets, the break was sorely needed by us all.
Then, Skillet. Best I can say is pure energy from start to finish. The mix slows down “a touch” at times with Comatose the “slow” song for the night. Even then the energy was high and you could just feel it going through the audience as they continued to weave in and out of 14 songs overall ranging from Feel Invincible to open, smoke guns on You Ain’t Ready, giving us fantastic photo opportunities and their WWE theme song Legendary.
Skillet is simply one of those bands that is high on my list of bands I’ve come to love. They’ve come through Dallas before, it just never was a good time to see them live. TOTALLY MY BAD and I’ll catch them every chance I can now. They just don’t seem to get radio support however. From a recent interview with frontman John Cooper, they are well aware they don’t get the radio play these days and they don’t get it either. The music is energetic, carries a message, and positive without preaching.
I become a stronger fan with every song I do hear and we play a wide variety here on Renegade. The state of music is just not where it used to be and people listen in a variety of ways. I’m not 100% sure being played on the radio is the goal in as much as simply continuing the push into whatever technology is driving today’s audiences.
But that is most certainly in of itself another story.
The tour wraps up today and tomorrow in Alter Bridges home town, Orlando, FL. While a rather short tour overall with just a month of dates that were scheduled, it will go down as one of my all time favorite concert experiences.
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