I walked into the CN Centre Sunday night as a skeptic of death metal music.
I had heard of Godsmack, the headliners, but had never bothered learning more about them.
To my surprise, as the show began, I found myself slipping into a groove and doing a bit of head-banging.
Of course I wasn’t the only one head-banging to the scorching power-chord tunes Godsmack had in store.
Formed in 1995 in Massachusetts, Godsmack has taken the metal world by storm.
The band have had four Grammy nominations, two of which were for I Stand Alone, a song written for the movie The Scorpion King, the other two for their songs Vampires and Straight Out of Line.
Godsmack opened the show with Cryin Like A B*tch, from the 2010 album, The Oracle.
Godsmack followed with Enemy, Straight Outta Line and Awake with the crowd pumping their fists in the air, fueled by Godsmack’s energy.
Lead singer Sully Erna encouraged the crowd to get loud and they did.
The highlight of the 10-song show followed by an encore of two songs, was a remarkable drum solo that saw both Erna and drummer Shannon Larkin face-to-face at the centre of the stage essentially playing a duet on the drums.
The gritty and heavy music was complemented by a considerable amount of strobe lights and green and yellow spotlights circling the crowd.
The show started at 8 p.m. with Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, a Florida band that found success with Face Down in 2006.
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus opened their set with Choke, and continued with their new single Grief.
The five-piece band showcased their newest member, 17 year old Josh Burke, their lead guitarist.
The next show at the CN Centre is the Xtreme Muzik Tour featuring country acts Big and Rich and Gretchen Wilson Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
