Concert Review: SEVENDUST with Tetrarch and Dead Poet Society – Kansas City

Sevendust kicked off their 2022 tour on March 4 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and will wrap up the first leg of the tour in Nashville, Tennessee on March 27. The band is celebrating the 21^st anniversary of their 2001 album, Animosity, and are playing the album in its entirety on this tour. LA quartet Dead Poet Society are the opening act on this leg, while Atlanta, Georgia metal band Tetrarch are providing direct support to Sevendust.

Up first were Dead Poet Society, a quartet out of Los Angeles that crashed into an energetic set with “.burymewhole,” a track off of their 2021 Spinefarm debut release, “-!-“ (known as the Exclamation album). The band formed at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2013, later moving to L.A.; however, their style is not the stereotypical proggy technicality often associated with Berklee alumni. Dead Poet Society’s songwriting spans multiple genres, like blues rock, alternative, punk, and metal. Although the crowd was still gathering inside the venue when the band started their set, after a few songs they were clearly winning over new fans in Kansas City. I look forward to seeing Dead Poet Society out on the road again soon. Check out the video for finale number “.CoDA” here.

Next were Tetrarch, a four-piece metal outfit from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 2007 by lead guitarist, Diamond Rowe, and vocalist/rhythm guitarist, Josh Fore, the band is currently touring in support of their 2021 Napalm Records release, Unstable. Starting off with “Stitch Me Up”, Josh Fore got the KC crowd jumping to the infectious groove that Tetrarch crafts so well. The remainder of the set consisted almost exclusively of tracks from the Unstable album, with heavy-hitting, low-end crunch on songs like, “Negative Noise”, “I’m Not Right”, “You Never Listen”, and title track “Unstable.” Throughout the set, lead guitarist Diamond Rowe showed us all her shredding skills as she stepped up front and center to rip through some lead guitar breaks.  

Sevendust launched into the Animosity set with “T.O.A.B.”, followed quickly by “Praise.” The crowd-surfers immediately began making their way over the heads of the audience toward the front of the stage. Judging by the deafening roar of approval from the near-capacity crowd, the KC fans gathered here tonight made it abundantly clear that they love this band. It was an emotional return to Kansas City for Sevendust, singer LaJon Witherspoon was visibly moved by the positive response from the audience as he looked with tearful eyes at the cheering fans; he is, after all, one of us, having moved with his family to Kansas City from Atlanta several years ago.

The band continued with crowd favorites “Trust”, “Xmas Day”, “Dead Set”, and “Shine.” With every song on the setlist, the audience responded with cheers, as the entire venue sang every lyric word-for-word. It was almost a perfect night of classic Sevendust songs and a flawless performance from the band. However, it was during Sevendust’s set that LaJon made the announcement regarding the untimely passing of Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins, casting a somber cloud over an otherwise incredible evening of live music. This sad news made songs like the well-loved ballad “Angel’s Son” even more impactful.

Although the first leg of the tour is over, there are plenty of dates coming up on the second part of the tour, starting on April 29^th in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and continuing through to May 19^th in Birmingham, Alabama. Check the full tour dates below, and do not hesitate to go see Sevendust if they stop at a venue near you. They never disappoint and hearing the full Animosity album live was a wonderful experience. Check out the photos from the show below!

Sevendust setlist:

1. T.O.A.B.
2. Praise
3. Trust
4. Xmas Day
5. Dead Set
6. Shine
7. Follow
8. Damaged
9. Live Again
10. Beautiful
11. Redefine
12. Angel’s Son
13. Crucified

Encore:

• Bitch
• Face to Face