Throughout their various visits to San Antonio over the years, Sevendust has delivered the goods as one of rock and metal’s most consistent live acts. Last Monday’s visit to the Aztec Theatre was similar . . . and different.
Similar in that Sevendust once again put on its stellar rockin’ show to an appreciative crowd. Slightly different in that this time, the Atlanta natives played an album in its entirety and brought along another Atlanta band that arguably stole the show.
Sevendust marched through 2001 album Animosity, playing it in full while changing the order of the songs a bit. Lajon Witherspoon belted out his stellar vocals, guitarists John Connolly and Clint Lowery provided the riffage, bassist Vince Hornsby handed out picks as if they were going out of style, and drummer Morgan Rose brought the intensity particularly on tracks such as “T.O.A.B. (Tits on a Boar),” “Praise” and “Crucified.”
No professional or Facebook Live video from professional photographers was allowed during the headliners’ set, but you can still access a taste of the bands, which also featured openers Dead Poet Society, in action via the 44-photo slideshow below.
Surprisingly, Sevendust appeared to utilize more recorded backing tracks for its vocals than ever before, particularly for Rose’s contributions. That was especially evident during the three encores of non-Animosity tracks “Bitch,” “Blood From a Stone” and traditional closer “Face to Face.” The latter is largely defined by Rose’s voice, particularly on the angst-ridden line “Fuck me for the last time!” But on this night, a crew member was adjusting Rose’s headset during the song, yet the drummer’s voice still boomed throughout the Aztec.
Nevertheless, Sevendust’s highlights included Witherspoon’s interactions with the crowd. No surprise given that the singer has been known to get emotional with a San Antonio audience. It was at the 2015 Fiesta Oyster Bake where he announced that after a 3-year attempt to become a parent, his wife had texted him prior to the show that she was pregnant, saying “I just felt I had to share that” before smiling and joking with the crowd, “Don’t tell nobody.”
At this show, Witherspoon was close to turning on the waterworks again while describing how fortunate he and the band felt playing a 20-year album in its entirety before a crowd that cared enough to hear it, especially after a global pandemic. The next moment, he turned serious when dedicating “Angel’s Son” to “all the beautiful people of Ukraine.”
Later, Witherspoon garnered a few laughs when he brought up Sevendust’s history with the Alamo City.
“Was there a place called the White Rabbit?” Witherspoon asked. Then, holding his fingers a couple inches apart, he said, “It was like, this big, and there was a Mexican restaurant across the street. The promoter was a bit shady, but he was cool. We have a lot of great memories, San Antonio!”
But not as many fans heard the banter as would normally have been the case for a Sevendust show. A portion of the Aztec’s first-level railing areas were not completely filled, and the balcony was roughly 50 percent empty for a couple of reasons:
Monday nights are the worst day for a concert
San Antonians had grown accustomed to the Aztec Theatre requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccination. Although that ended up being rescinded on this night with the virus situation improving everywhere, fans wouldn’t have known that would be the case until they were about to have their tickets scanned. Of course, they would’ve had to show up in the first place for that to happen
No matter what part of the venue from which fans may have been watching, those who showed up early enough were rewarded by Tetrarch, easily the most energetic and passionately fueled band on the bill. Playing with a chip on his shoulder, vocalist / rhythm guitarist Josh Fore fired up the Aztec by encouraging fans to live out their dreams no matter what type of negativity they encounter. As an example, Fore told a “true story” about how Tetrarch had played at the Rock Box on its previous San Antonio visit “to one person in the crowd.” He also recounted how his band was often told it wasn’t heavy enough.
Tetarch has taken those attempted roadblocks and had the last laugh. Finally able to release debut full-length Unstable last year, Tetrarch has seen single I’m Not Right” crack the Mediabase Active Rock Top 30 as one of the record’s three Top 40 Active Rock Radio hits. Watch ATM’s footage of “You Never Listen” and “Unstable” below plus Facebook Live footage of finale “Oddity,” during which Fore encouraged fans to tell any of their friends who may have planned to only arrive in time for Sevendust what they missed out on.
In addition to bassist Ryan Lerner and drummer Ruban Limas, Tetrarch is proud of the fact, and rightfully so, that Diamond Lowe is the first African-American female lead guitarist to be featured in major magazine publications. So proud, in fact, Tetrarch sold a T-shirt solely dedicated to her that said as much on the back of it.
Now she and her band can add Alamo True Metal to that list. And Tetrarch is sure to see much more than one singular fan on the rest of its subsequent visits to the Alamo City.
