Photos and Review by Jim LaValley
Galleries: Pop Evil, Sierra Pilot
There is a certain electricity unique to rock and roll played in a small room. No nosebleed seats. No jumbotrons. Just the heat of bodies, the smell of spilled beer, and a stage close enough that you can see the sweat on the singer’s brow. That was the scene on the night of April 3rd, 2025, when Michigan hard rockers Pop Evil rolled into Six String Grill & Stage in Foxborough, Massachusetts for just the second date of their What Remains Tour — and absolutely killed it with an incredible performance.
Six String is tucked inside Patriot Place, the sprawling entertainment complex that sits in the shadow of Gillette Stadium — home of the New England Patriots, one of the most decorated franchises in the history of professional football. The venue itself can accommodate up to 1,200 guests, but on a concert night, when the tables are pushed back and the faithful press toward the stage, Six String becomes something more primal — a converted barroom cathedral where every guitar chord lands like a punch to the chest. The sound, dialed in and crystal clear, bounced off the walls which offered great acoustics.
Before the headliners could take the stage, the evening belonged to Sierra Pilot, the hard-charging rock band hailing from Waterloo, Ontario — the tech and culture corridor of Canada’s Kitchener-Waterloo region. This is a band that has been quietly stacking résumé credits at an impressive rate. They’ve opened for the likes of Skid Row, Buckcherry, and Bad Wolves, and they’ve now found themselves a reliable touring partner with Pop Evil, having joined the Michigan rockers on multiple runs.
On stage in Foxborough, Sierra Pilot was everything a support act should be — hungry, tight, and unwilling to be ignored. Sierra Pilot is a project built around the vision of frontman and songwriter Taylor Leith, whose voice carries the weathered authority of someone who has genuinely lived the lyrics he sings. Wes Bartram behind the kit was a whirlwind of energy, driving the band which had the crowd leaning in from the first song. David Goodman on bass was equally untamed, a perpetual-motion full of energy who in the zone and you could feel it. Together, the rhythm section gave Sierra Pilot a foundation that was as solid as it was exciting. Brenden James held down the lead guitar work with purpose, and Gabriel Guerra added rhythm guitar and backing vocals that thickened the sonic mix considerably. Overall, a great performance and the crowd was definitely engaged.
The real wildcard of the evening was a guest appearance by Pop Evil drummer Blake Allison, who stepped up to the microphone to contribute lead vocals on a Sierra Pilot moment that the Foxborough crowd clearly did not expect. It was the kind of spontaneous, cross-band camaraderie that only happens in small rooms — and it brought the house down.
From the moment the lights dropped and the opening salvo of “Trenches”, the band’s first number one rock radio hit, a song that has become a modern hard rock anthem which rang out across Six String, it was clear this was going to be a killer night of awesome music.
Leigh Kakaty is one of the most compelling frontmen in modern rock. In Foxborough, the Detroit-area native paused between songs to acknowledge the crowd with a warmth that felt genuine rather than scripted. He noted his affection for Boston, acknowledging it as a championship town while glancing around at the Patriots’ home territory and nodding his respect. “You’ve got to give it credit,” Kakaty told the crowd, and the room roared back. It was a smart, authentic moment from a performer who understands that connecting with a room has as much to do with what you say as how you sing.
The band with Kakaty on lead vocals, Dave Grahs on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Nick Fuelling on lead guitar and backing vocals, Joey “Chicago” Walser on bass and backing vocals, and Blake Allison behind the drums — are a five-piece operating at the absolute peak of their chemistry. Twenty-plus years into their story, they move as a unit.
Dave Grahs is one of Pop Evil’s founding pillars alongside Kakaty, dating back to those earliest days in Muskegon — locked in with Allison all night, providing the rhythmic bedrock that gave the band its groove. Grahs has always been the structural backbone of Pop Evil’s sound, the engine room that lets the more explosive players catch fire.
Then there is Joey “Chicago” Walser who was full of energy and was a perpetual blur of motion while jumping, charging the edge of the stage, grinning like a man who cannot believe his luck that he gets to do this for a living. His energy was infectious and relentless from start to finish, the kind of stage presence that forces even the most passive audience member to start moving.
Behind the kit, Blake Allison, who in addition to his Pop Evil duties drums in the side project Devour the Day alongside Walser, showed off a different kind of range this evening. After his guest vocal turn with Sierra Pilot earlier in the night, Allison settled back behind his kit and drove the Pop Evil set with precision and thunder.
The setlist read like a greatest hits collection—because, in many ways, it was. From “Waking Lions” and “Skeletons” to “Footsteps” and “Eye of the Storm,” every track landed with impact, showcasing the depth of Pop Evil’s catalog.
The night closed the way it had to, with the thunderous, triumphant ride of “100 in a 55.” The encore, drawn from the band’s very first album *Lipstick on the Mirror* (2008), remains one of the great hard rock singalongs of the modern era, and in a room this size, with every voice in the building joining in, it hit harder.
The What Remains Tour is only two shows deep, but if Foxborough is any indication, Pop Evil is about to remind the entire hard rock world exactly who they are.
Pop Evil remain one of the hardest-working, most gratifying live acts in modern rock. Don’t sleep on this tour.