Chippewa Falls Freaks & Geeks

It was a night of metal at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in downtown St. Paul. In compliance with full disclosure, I have to say right up front that I am not a huge Godsmack fan, The Wife is.  I don't mind it when she plays it.  It isn't like her Kings of Leon which for some reason wants to trigger my gag reflex.  I don't mind Godsmack, I just never listen to them out of my choice.  I don't know their music other than the top couple of hits.  But, the wife loves it.  So, even though we usually only hit one big show a year,  here we were.  It was less than a couple of weeks after the Gaga show she found out Roy Wilkins was hosting this great lineup.  We shrugged our shoulders and jumped at another excuse to dress up, eat Indian food and hit a rock show.

It was also a night of some strange karma lining up.  In a rare event these days, I got busted at the door with a camera.  The security guy asked me directly.  I am really bad at lying, so I told him, "Yes, I did have a camera".  Pulled it out of my pocket, explaining that it was nothing special.  But, it didn't seem to matter iPhones take far better pictures than my camera.   I was looking at the long walk back to the car carrying the camera.  The Wife was already inside the gate because she got split off into the girls frisking down girls line.  She was looking back at me with spousal wtf.

The band Godsmack on stage at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul

So it was time to find our seat.  We had bought tickets through the fan club and so we were in an assigned seat in the first few rows of the lower deck, straight away from the stage.   A ways away, but still good seats.  There seemed to be a line of people heading toward where the music was getting louder, we got in it.  Thirty seconds later we were handing our tickets to a guy at the door.  He took them.  Said we would get them back later as we exited.  Ummm, ok, I think I remember my row and seat number.   Don't I?  I keep walking.  I am muttering to myself D-4&5... D-4&5... The music is getting louder.  I look up.  Drowning Pool is on the stage in front of me.  I am on the main floor.

Matt Snell on bass and lead singer Ivan Moody on stage with Five Finger Death Punch

But the other thing is, beyond just the wildness factor, rock shows with this lineup tend to pull in some very large sweaty guys.  Guys with exponential BMI numbers to mine.   At one point the pit was expanding.  The people inside were spinning rapidly, and I could see it peal away the willing, and unwilling alike, as it grew in size.  Pulling people into the mosh.  The edge was coming towards us, stopping only at the point where there were only two people in front of us.  It was like walking up to the edge of a cliff and then backing away.  The beat changed and we were saved as the pit shrank back down.

So yeah, main floors are big, scary and if I ever get pulled into a pit I will probably get pulled out in pieces.  But, main floors are also cool.  And, if fate is going to align itself to put me there, who am I to argue.  Roy Wilkins auditorium is a great place to see a show.  The arena sized version of small and intimate, it has great sound.  Being up close was great.  Godsmack had some fairly cool staging.  Though I have to admit, I am still suffering from the Gaga Effect -- of being blown away by the sheer size and complexity of the whole Lady Gaga concert.  For a little bit now, most other rock shows are going to look small time and cheesy.

Five Finger Death Punch warming up for Godsmack at Roy Wilkins, October 2010.

The crowd was involved, but it was small.  It was nowhere near a capacity (5500) crowd at Wilkins.  I would say at least half the seats were empty, maybe the floor was considered close to full.

Warming up for Godsmack was Five Finger Death Punch.  For me, the high point of the night.  I like their music.  I am a total sucker for any metal band that combines softer, slower segments within screaming metal songs.  I almost always love those.  No surprise, they closed the show with the song The Bleeding.  It was fantastic.  Lead singer Ivan Moody had good connection with the audience.  As well he should, he told us he grew up in Somerset Wisconsin.

Drowning Pool lead singer Ryan McCombs opens for Godsmack in St. Paul

And, opening the night was Drowning Pool.   I last saw Drowning Pool in Eau Claire Wisconsin at The Stone's Throw.  I am not sure which venue they played a shorter set.  It really sucked in Eau Claire because obviously they were headlining that act.  They got to the bar maybe two hours late.   They *may* have played for 30 minutes.  It sure didn't feel like it.  In St. Paul they played for exactly 30 minutes.  Thanked us and walked off stage.  It was a very short, but, pretty good sounding set.  I have the new Drowning Pool CD in the car all the time and listen to it often.  It seemed like more of an old favorites show though.  Other that their top ten hit _Bodies_ I don't know their older music well.

Herself's final verdict on the show, "Meh, it was OK."  I think she found Godsmack's lifelessness troubling.  And, like me, she was suffering the Gaga effect of the show not measuring up.  I think she was happy to have been there, but wasn't blown away.

As far as cameras in the show, within a ten foot radius, I bet there was 15 cameras.  There is a policy that is working well.

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