It was such a “legendary” night at a packed house at the Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City as Skillet with special guests From Ashes To New and Ledger brought a night of exciting rock and showmanship to Sooner country. Skillet is currently on the “Victorious” tour and decided to give their drummer’s band a shot with Ledger opening up the show.
- Photo Credit for Ledger: Ledger
I didn’t know what to expect when it came to Ledger. I knew that they were pretty significant in the Christian rock genre, but they blew me away live! I always dug Ledger’s background vocals in Skillet as she added another dynamic to some of Skillet’s mainstream rock hits. Ledger definitely showcased a lot of charisma and confidence opening up and they did a phenomenal job warming up the crowd for From Ashes To New.
From Ashes To New definitely brought the energy to the Oklahoma City crowd. After their crazy anticipatory intro, they went into their smash hit “Broken”, which seemed to be the theme of the night, meaning that “everything is going to be okay, and that it’s okay to not be okay”. Vocalist Danny Case was all over the place engaging the crowd and getting people to go crazy in the pit, jumping, and clapping in unison. The programming brought out the ambiance that got the crowd warmed up and electric. “Land Of Make Believe” got the crowd going ballistic. I absolutely love the trade-offs in vocals between frontman Danny Case and vocalist/guitarist/programmer Matt Brandyberry. Lance Dowdle and Mat Madiro kept the drive going respectively on guitars and drums. Through songs “Crazy”, “My Name” and “Through It All”, From Ashes To New got the crowd electric for Skillet!
The main event of the evening was Skillet. Skillet brought their uplifting brand of rock and just absolutely made sure each and every person in the packed house was there to have a good time. John Cooper and his charismatic antics along with crowd banter showcased why he’s a premier frontman in today’s mainstream rock world. His wife Korey Cooper absolutely brought the energy on the guitar, while Seth Morrison set the pace on the guitar and Jen Ledger crushed it on the drums. After their anticipatory setting that got the crowd whipped into a frenzy, they broke into their smash hit “Feel Invincible”. The crowd sang along to every word on that song. Ledger showcased her quality background vocals while Cooper of the John persuasion sang “Not Gonna Die”. John Cooper set the bass off to the side and donned some “smoking cannons” and that whipped the crowd into a frenzy even further.
The night was chocked full of hits such as “Legendary”, “Awake and Alive”, “Back From The Dead”, and “Savior”. John broke into a heartfelt story about Chester Bennington and letting the crowd know that if they ever feel down and depressed that they are not alone and that they need to reach out and talk to someone. I can tell that John was getting emotional when he started to talk about Chester and they broke into the song “Victorious”, then that bled into a partial Eleanor Hull cover of “Be Thou My Vision”, which got the crowd into a moment of silence and worship as we all know that Skillet are major players in the Christian rock market as well. What I appreciate is that they’re not overly preachy, they talk about messages of love in their music without “weirding” anyone out. I also appreciated the cellist that would come out from time to time to add another element to Skillet’s music. It comes from a genuine place. After “Monster” and “Rebirthing”, they came out for a one-song encore encouraging everyone to be a part of “The Resistance”, and how we’re meant to be a counterculture to mainstream media. What an incredible, heartfelt night from Skillet. Here is the set list:
- Feel Invincible
- Not Gonna Die
- You Ain’t Ready
- Whispers In The Dark
- Legendary
- Awake and Alive
- Back from the Dead
- Save Me
- Hero
- Anchor
- Savior
- Undefeated
- Victorious
- Be Thou My Vision
- Stars
- Comatose
- Monster
- Re-birthing
- The Resistance
Skillet have some gigs to wrap up the Victorious Tour before heading off to Europe before playing some one-offs in the United States. Check out the gig dates below:
Thu. 3/5- Piedmont Hall in Greensboro, North Carolina
Sat. 3/7- House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Sun. 3/8- The Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland
Tue. 3/10- Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey
Wed. 3/11- State Theatre in Portland, Maine
Fri. 3/13- Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, New York
Sat. 3/14- The Norva in Norfolk, Virginia
Sun. 3/22- UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton, Georgia
Sat. 4/25- Panama City Beach in Panama City Beach, Florida
Tue. 6/2- Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland
Fri. 6/5- Sun. 6/7- Zeppelinfeld in Nurnberg, Germany
Fri. 6/12- Download Festival in Castle Donington, United Kingdom
Sat. 6/13- Greenfield Festival AG in Zurich, Switzerland
Thu. 6/18- Hradec Kralove in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Sun. 6/21- Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium
Wed. 6/24- Auditorium Parco della Musica in Roma, Italy
Thu. 6/25- Parco delle Caserme Rosse in Bologna, Italy
Sat. 7/11- Red River Valley Fair in West Fargo, North Dakota
Sat. 7/18- Upheaval Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Thu. 8/6- Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin
Sat. 8/8- Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia
Fri. 8/14- Iron Horse Saloon in Sturgis, South Dakota
For tickets and further information on any of the gig dates listed above, click here.
Fans can find Skillet at the following locations:
- Photo Credit for Ledger: Ledger owns all the rights to their photos
- Photo Credit for From Ashes To New: Will Wight Photography
- Photo Credit for Skillet: Skillet owns all the rights to their photos
