Live Review: Skillet's Collide Tour, Thursday, January 13, 2005, Green Bay, Wisconsin

As a preview to this summer’s Lifest Christian Music Festival in Oshkosh, WI, Life! Promotions presented four nights of Skillet’s Collide Tour here in Wisconsin. This actually worked as a preview of the tour on which Kids in the Way and Seventh Day Slumber join Skillet for dates through the next coming months. On Thursday, January 13, I caught the show at Skateside, a Christian indoor skate park in Green Bay.


English Dance Rock: Skillet
As I said back when I reviewed their Lifest 2003 show, Skillet is one of those bands that ends up on the wrong side of the pond in my Music Spectrum. I put them in the English Dance Rock section near Placebo, the Cure, and Jesus Jones. Skillet combines their Hard Rock with sampling, overdubbing, and effects, having that Jesus Jones, English Dance beat thing along with the grunge, distortion, and screaming vocals.

Skillet remained true to form for this early show of their 2005 Collide Tour. Lori Peters smashed that kit; John Cooper did that metal rock/dance rock vocal combo; Korey Cooper’s keyboard crystallized the atmosphere; and Ben Kasica thoroughly charged the air. Cooper swung the bass around his neck (although once it got twisted up, almost choked him, and made leave the stage briefly). Kasica went from playing behind his back—“Johnny Be Goode”—straight into some vicious thrash metal.

As earlier in the show during Seventh Day Slumber (see below), there seemed to be a theme for the night of invoking the sound and tenor of Nine Inch Nails. Skillet found this on “Energy,” dance beat meeting distorted guitar, but also containing the themes of Pretty Hate Machine—“can’t escape,” “overpower,” and “you are everything.” These themes also jump out on “You Take Away My Rights.” Granted, Skillet’s talking about God, and Trent Reznor was talking about the lover who scorned him. However, thematically, you can’t escape the similarities.

With its vivid line, “Regret is a needle in my neck,” “Forsaken” was a standout song for the evening, musically and theatrically as John Cooper yelled, “Go,” charging into another thrashy section. Meanwhile, a curtain fell behind the stage revealing the Collide artwork.

“You’re Powerful” tapped into Electornica. From the first album, “My Beautiful Robe” has Kinks-like verses with Hard Rock choruses. Kasica did a bit of a tongue-in-cheek fingerboard guitar solo during the little band break. Continuing with fingerboard styling, John Cooper used his fingerboard to create waves of bass sound for the beginning of “Imperfection.”

Going back to “Alien Youth,” John Cooper had to fake the electronic effect on the stop vocal, but the song rallied the teen Christians anyway. A ska-like, double speed tag ending furthered this song’s prominence in the set. Another song with a tag ending closed the main set. “Savior” had this tremendous Howitzer break plus an explosive tag ending. That’s the kind of power that Skillet adds to their Gospel lyrics.


Hard Rock: Kids in the Way
Last summer, I caught a few songs by Kids in the Way at Lifest, summing them up as: melodic hard rock with growled out metal vocals. I actually left their performance after a few songs.

That was last summer. As Kids in the Way opened up the night on January 13, I was impressed by how they’ve gotten even tighter—especially the rhythm section of Eric Carter (drums) and Nathan Hughes (bass). The band’s sound still finds that melodic hard rock, but also fitting these descriptions: “skate punk with hard rock screams,” “banging guitar drive with syncopated drums,” and “classic Hard Rock with blasting vocals of the 2000’s.”

Dave Pelsue as lead singer reminds me of Jay Bakkar, son of televangelist Jim Bakkar, who now with tatoos and piercings leads a ministry to extreme youth. As Pelsue screams into his mic, he also has that flexed bicep look of Henry Rollins. Finally, Pelsue’s persona is a bit like the early Jim Morrison, turned a bit away from the front of the stage, not facing the crowd.

In their 20 minute set, “Hallelujah” caught my attention especially as a worship/praise song with screaming vocals. That combination actually leads to a very urgent prayer, something more akin to the emotion of many of the psalms, tapping more of those wide-ranging emotions than many middle-of-the-road contemporary worship songs. While many raised their hands in praise, they could’ve just as easily pounded the air with their fists as Pelsue sings, “Just know I only want to hear you say,/‘Hallelujah, Hallelujah,/He’s alive in me today.’”


Hard Rock: Seventh Day Slumber
Seventh Day Slumber began their set with “Innocence” (on 2003’s Picking Up the Pieces): muscles flexed, heads banging, with stop rhythm choruses, calling out for a lost innocence like the theme of Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine. The new album, Once Upon a Shattered Life on Bec Recordings, crackles on a few tracks with this full-bodied Hard Rock (“Break Me,” “Make Believe,” and “Chris’ Letter”).

However, both live and on their new album, Seventh Day Slumber seem to be struggling to decide whether they want to be a Hard Rock band with full-fledged furry guitars and vocals, or do they want to be the next Third Day—pop rock with a little distortion thrown in for a hint of danger? The new single, “Caroline,” sounds like something we’ve heard before. Unfortunately, this is why Christian radio will make it a hit.

“I Know” finds that the balladry of worship bands crept into a Hard Rock band. The Hard Rock breaks loose a lot of their punch, because they need to be tighter to pack the contrast between the praise chorus and throw-down rock sections. Again on “My Struggle,” the Hard Rock breaks punch holes in walls, smashing the neat little Christian world that Precious Moments and lacey Bible covers create, but the lyric melody line takes us back to the Country-influenced pop rock of Third Day. Those Hard Rock breaks are far too short; I want to hear more of that side of Seventh Day Slumber. For one thing, Jeremy Holderfield’s solo was really quite blazing.

On “Candy,” the band laid down some swirling atmospherics which they do quite well. I’d like to hear them do this more, creating aural space to really flesh out their songs.

Stage Talks
This show ground to a halt three times. Once when Kids in the Way’s Dave Pelsue gave a short stage talk. His talk was concise, but the band members looked bored during it. Then Seventh Day Slumber’s Joseph Rojas took us through an extended stage talk, telling his incredible life story, but as a speech, it rambled. Even as he told us he was taking too much time, he continued. You can’t take anything away with the truly gracious way God has turned Rojas’ life around, but he actually communicates much of this in a stronger way through the music.

Finally, Skillet brought everything to a full stop when John Cooper spoke. His stage talk mainly relied on a collage of Christian phrases piling on top of one another. The momentum that is a Skillet show fizzled right out of the building. While I know Cooper, as all of these bands, wants to make sure the message of Christ is heard above the music, the music is what carries this message so powerfully. That’s what makes the psalms powerful. That’s what makes the prophets powerful. It’s music; it’s poetry; it’s showing how much emotion and drama is in this spiritual reality presented through the words of Christ.

Please, brothers and sisters, know that you preach the Word loudly, clearly, strongly, and with great emotion through your music. That is something I cannot do as a preacher. So play on! Rock on! That is your mission.

Thanks to Brian and the Media Relations people at Life Promotions and to all of the bands, labels, and managers for their help.