As I start off the day getting ready for the Breaking Benjamin show tonight. I knew it was going to be a long and hot day. The temperature is high 90’s with a heat index of 99. This show has a total of 5 bands, most events only have 3 bands. With that in mind I arrive early. Once in the parking lot I notice there’s not a whole lot going on, I guess because it’s an early show and people are in no hurry seeing how Breaking Benjamin doesn’t go on till much later in the day.
It’s 4:45pm time for me to head into the amphitheater and get ready for the first band, “Diamante”. This is a hard rock solo artist. “Diamante” best known for her single “Bite Your Kiss”, released in 2014 which she came out singing. The blue hair with the rhinestone sunglasses and top to match gave her an edgy look. Set times were extremely short. They played hits from her album” Coming in Hot” and “Sleepwalking” and even preformed the “Bad Wolves” song “Hear Me Now” which she sang on. As they ended the set with “War Cry”.
The next band is” Dorothy” which she’s known for her song “Raise Hell” off the “Rockisdead” album. I first saw her back in 2014 and completely loved her. “Dorothy” has sung alongside some big names like “Lizzy Hale” and” Lita Ford”. This set only included 6 songs. Hitting the stage, she’s dressed in all black with a shear glittery see through top, black leather pants and I black hat singing “After Midnight”. The audience is loving it. Playing songs like “Who Do You Love” and “Down To The Bottom”. As she ended her set with “Freedom”.
Moving on to the 3rd band. “Three Days Grace”. Straight out the gate singer “Matt Waist” is pumped and ready. Telling the crowd to get up and get the mosh pit going. Starting off with “The Mountain” off their album “Outsider” which was released in 2018. “Matt” is all over the stage running from end to end. As the band proceeds to play songs like” Pain”, “Break” and “Home”. The crowd is singing with him and at times even louder than him. The band brought their “A” game and have out done their selves. Playing a mix of songs, off various albums pleasing everyone. As the band plays their last song “Riot” which is off the “One-X” album released in 2006. “Matt” tells the crowd this is the last time to get the mosh pit going.
Now for “Chevelle”. They come out playing “Young Wicked” which was released in 2016. This band is family literally. The band is made up of brothers, “Pete” and “Sam” with brother-in-law “Dean”. They brought as usual a mix of old songs with new songs like” Joy Ride” and “Vitamin R (leading Us Along) taking us back to 2004. The band is working on a new album which should be released later this year. As the set ended “Pete” leaned over the rail and handed his guitar to a young kid. What a moment this was.
Now finally “Breaking Benjamin”. Coming out on stage with just red lights making it difficult to photograph. The fans are on their feet. The band had made a spot on both sides of the stage for a small group of die-hard fans. This had to be an experience of a lifetime for them to be part of the live show as the band performs. As they play songs like “Never Again”, “Breath” and “Sugarcoat” singer “Benjamin Bernley” notices all the young kids up front and jumps down to pull a couple up on stage so they can stand with the rest of the fans on the platforms. The light show was amazing with all the beams and pyro’s everywhere. It was powerful. Just wish the band was lit up a little more so you could see them. Most of the time singer “Benjamin” was in the dark making it hard to see him. The band broke into a melody of cover tunes playing songs from “Nirvana”, “Queen”, “Pantera” and “Metallica”. The audience was loving it, everyone singing word for word. I think that was my favorite part of the show. As the night moves on with all the flashing strobes and laser beams, they start to wind downplaying songs like “Failure” released in 2015 and “Torn In Two” released 2018. The vivacity these guys exude during their live performance is astonishing. As they get ready for the encore, I can say this. I’ve seen them a lot and I don’t think this was their best performance, but it was still a stellar show.
Review By: Hannah Lee
Diamante
Dorothy
Three Days Grace
Chevelle
Breaking Benjamin
