Review and Photos by David Kasiorek
The skies were clear and the temps were perfect for Tuesday nights stop on “The Rise of Rock
World Tour” at Starlake. This tour is one of the best rock tours of the summer with a stacked line up and
some amazing musicians.
Kicking off the night was special guest “Dorothy” with her power house vocals and the cool blend
of rock n roll, blues and small elements of pop. The highlights of her and the bands set was “Down to the
Bottom”, “Rest in Peace” and “Medicine Man” which are all tracks that have a lot of soul and grit.
Stone Temple Pilots took the stage next with their legendary catalogue of songs. Opening with one
of my personal favorites “Dead and Bloated” a track that always speaks true to who STP are at the core
(no pun intended) with sludgy guitars, a thick groove and perfectly placed vocal melodies. STP albums
are all filled with great tracks but their live set consists of what the general public would call “hits”. I’m
talking songs like “Wicked Garden”, “Plush”, “Big Empty”, “Interstate Love Song” and set closer “Sex
Type Thing”. As a drummer, I can really get into the more obscure and thumping songs like the heavy
hitter “Down” or the mysterious “Lounge Fly”. STP brought it and rocked the house with Jeff Gutt
(Vocals), Eric Kretz (Drums), and the DeLeo brothers (Robert on bass and Dean on guitar). Another
interesting tidbit from the show was when Dean took the mic to show off a guitar that he bought at
Pittsburgh Guitars on the Southside in 1992 – from a distance it looked like a shiny red Gibson that
sounded crisp and amazing. With the sun starting to set it was time for the headliners to take the stage.
Godsmack returned to Pittsburgh opening with the pounding drums and rocking vibes of “When
Legends Rise”. A fitting song to start with since the legendary master of rhythm himself, Mike Mangini
(drums) just joined the band a week ago and just happens to be my favorite drummer! The buzz is that hes
over qualified for the gig but I think hes a great fit for Godsmack and it will be interesting to see what
happens going forward. The show continued with hard rockers like “You and I”, “Awake”, “Surrender”,
“Keep Away”, “Love-Hate-Sex-Pain” and “Straight Out of Line” which has a main drum beat reminiscent
of something that Mangini may have played in his era of Dream Theater. Enough fanning over Mike
Mangini because Godsmack is all about frontman Sully Erna and original bassist Robbie Merrill who
started the band 31 years ago ushering them into rock stardom. Sully had a fun guitar story of his own to
tell as he showed off the guitar he used to write the entire first record – one he bought for $80 at a pawn
shop. The next 20 minutes of the set was the highlight of the night with the haunting “Voodoo” a hit track
written by Sully and Robbie back in ’97 followed by the EPIC drum battle between Mike Mangini and
Sully getting behind the kit to showcase his skills. The drum battle weaved in and out of jazzy beats,
snippets of several classic rock tunes and a back and forth of drum fills sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Following the 15 minutes of drums galore, Sully brought some kids from the audience on stage to test the
crowd and see how loud they can get for the next generation of potential rockers. The encore started off
with Sully on piano to perform “Under Your Scars” a track written for the non profit the band started to
help battle suicide and addiction. The show finished out strong with a cover of John Walsh’s “Rocky
Mountain Way” followed by “Bulletproof” and the sendoff “Stand Alone”.
The Rise of Rock tour left Pittsburgh feeling great and cool just like the night air. If you have a
chance to catch this tour in a city near you – do it!
Godsmack
Stone Temple Pilots
Dorothy
