Sully Erna
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Photography by Micah Gummel.
Review and Photography by Micah Gummel.
Venue: Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Godsmack frontman Sully Erna in intimate performance with a different setting that you would normally see for this performer. The screaming crowd, surfers and mosh pits were replaced with rows of chairs were laid out on the floor of the elaborate and spacious Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom. Erna thorough the night was giving props to friends and family even his daughter was in the crowd. The Ballroom is like home turf for the Erna family as he grew up no far from the NH line. Clearly, this was not your typical hard rock concert.
Erna’s solo album “Avalon,” that was released in September 2010 and marked a very clear departure from the sounds that Godsmack fans had come to know and love. This didn’t prevent the usual cast of characters from coming out to support the tattooed frontman. Playing to a nearly sold out show the crowd genuinely seemed to appreciate Erna’s earnest attempt to bring something different to the musical landscape, something he truly felt has been left behind as the industry has progressed.
After a introductory video piece about the science of sound and how music helps us to experience different feelings there was Erna outfitted in a T-shirt and jeans backed by an incredibly talented collection of musicians, including female vocalist Lisa Guyer, whose performance was so brilliant that her name bears mentioning, Erna weaved through random cuts from the “Avalon” album, as a video display in the background flashed trance-like and physicadelic images throughout.
The songs were slower than we’re used to but his deep, familiar voice sounded the same. His haunting howls hit every note on point. The sounds forged a middle ground between mellow and intense with a heavy mixture of goth and tribal influences. Some of the more poignant moments included “My Light,” a heartfelt duet with Guyer as video flashed behind the stage of Erna playing with his daughter from a baby through adolescence, and “Eyes of a Child,” a socially conscious song with the backing video flashing images of children infected by HIV and AIDS, closing with a graphic reading “Together we can change the world.” But in between it all it’s clear that this is a concept album for Erna, jumping from piano to guitar, anxious to show that he’s come full circle as a musician, wanting to branch out musically beyond the screaming frontman who’s toured with everyone from Metallica to Motley Crue.
The Humble and genuine, Erna said “It’s nice to see people like yourselves to come out and experience music. It’s the soundtrack of our lives and it affects us in so many different ways.” Dispelling any rumors that his solo career was his primary focus Erna declared, “Godsmack is alive and well and this is a different part of me that I want to explore.” He then pulled out his acoustic guitar and played a solo version of Godsmack’s “Serenity,” before introducing the entire band onstage and closing with a “The Chain”-”Hey Jude” medley that sent any Godsmack disciples questioning his brief hiatus, home appreciatively.
Set List
Awake
(Godsmack song)
Keep Away
(Godsmack song)
Running Blind
(Godsmack song)
Nutshell
(Alice in Chains cover)
Fall Into Black
Until Then…
Broken Road
Avalon
The Departed
Hollow
(Godsmack song)
Eyes of a Child
Sinner’s Prayer
My Light
Forever My Infinity
Touche
(Godsmack song)
Time
(Pink Floyd cover)
Encore:
Serenity
(Godsmack song)
The Chain
(Fleetwood Mac cover)
Hey Jude
(The Beatles cover)
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