Album Reviews
Movies
Concert Reviews

Top 10
Resources
Contact Us

Sunday evening in Atlanta and we arrived two and half hours early for a ‘meet and greet’ with POD and Blindsidebefore the show .  The concert was at the Tabernacle, an imposing church-like structure in the middle of downtown.  The CNN building and other high rises surrounded the hundred-year-old former theatre.  As we approached the building we saw a typical rock crowd: mostly male, teens and early twenties, dressed in black.  An old man approached us with a rambling discourse on race relations, parking conditions and job prospects.  He asked for money and we gave him $10.  As he left us he mentioned, ‘when you leave here, take a left on Williams and that will get you back to the interstate’.  This would prove very prophetic.

The ‘meet and greet’ was handled smoothly.  The first one hundred ticket buyers were ushered inside the Tabernacle and up a winding staircase to the third floor Tabernacle.  We waited there for several minutes until the POD and Blindside band members took their seats behind a long table in a small room.  The organizers allowed around ten of us at a time to enter the room and meet the bands.  We could shake hands, get autographs and pose for pictures.  Both bands seemed open and agreeable to the whole process.  It was cool to see the guys up close and even better to see them smile and laugh.  They seemed to enjoy meeting their fans.

The ‘meet and greet’ group was allowed first shot at standing positions on the floor or seating in the balcony.  The Tabernacle is wonderfully built for a rock concert.  The performance room has a high vaulted ceiling that is colorfully painted and also features a huge chandelier.  I’m guessing capacity is only around a thousand.  We decided to sit in the balcony, almost directly across from center stage, and the view was great.

Lacuna Coil was first up.  Hard rock from Italy that was ok, but nothing special; two singers, two guitars, bass and drums.  The female lead singer has a big voice but none of the songs really impressed.  The stage banter was somewhat amusing due to the Italian accents but the band struggled to get the crowd involved.  Lacuna did seem to put a lot of effort into synchronized head thrashing but for that to be the lasting impression of their thirty-minute set is not a good sign.

Then came Hazel Street; two white rappers with a band of two guitars, bass and drums.  Lots of energy from the rappers but again, they had a difficult time getting the crowd interested.  They played for 30 minutes but only once or twice did I hear something that caught my ear.  My lasting impression is that this is a very unusual looking group.  One small rapper and one tall.  A very wide bassist and a very tall guitar player, like 6’8" tall or so.  The drum kit turned sideways, but I'm not sure why.  They tossed out free sampler CDs and I was afraid the crowd would throw them back.  But no, the crowd stayed relatively calm, waiting for Blindside!  

A quick stage change-out and we were ready for Blindside.  The stagehands were great, by the way.  With four bands, it was important to handle the stage changes quickly.  The crowd was immediately charged and ready.  The lead singer was in good but not great voice but he interacted and managed the crowd expertly.  The band was tight and energetic, especially the drummer who pushed everything along.  The singer continued to work the crowd and frequently stood atop the security fence where he could touch and be touched by the fans.  This may have contributed to a technical glitch late in the set when his mike stopped working during a song, which the band handled it professionally, keeping the riff going as the techs tried to get the problem resolved.  The singer finally just sang the remainder of the song into the dead mike as the crowd cheered and sang along.

And then, POD.  Starting with "BOOM," the band was ready to rock and the crowd responded.  Things began to get very physical on the floor but it appeared everyone was having a great time.  Sonny provided most of the action on the stage as the band concentrated on the music.  Everything was tight though it seemed that the sound clarity had actually diminished somewhat from the beginning of the concert.  Even allowing for the normal ear ringing after a couple of hours of music, POD was muddy.  Regardless, the band moved through a great set list featuring: "Set it off, "Southtown," "Youth of the Nation," "Alive," "Messenjah, "Sleeping Awake," "Will You," and "Wildfire."  Towards the end of the show, Sonny asked the crowd to help sing "Happy Birthday" to a member of the stage crew.  The band began the count into the next song and Sonny began to sing, but the band didn’t begin playing.  It was a trick on Sonny who laughingly called his bandmates "chumps."  Then Wuv announced that it was also Sonny’s birthday and a cake was brought onto stage.  After singing "Happy Birthday," the band and stage crew smeared cake in Sonny’s face.  Then he took the remainder of the cake and hurled it into the crowd where it clobbered some unsuspecting fan.  It was a very funny scene.  The band cleaned up and resumed playing.   The crowd called the band back for an encore of two songs and then it was over.  "Wichita Lineman" came over the PA, a perfect end for a great night of music.

As we left the parking lot I realized I had no idea how to get out of downtown Atlanta.  We drove down the street and came to an intersection with Williams Avenue.  I hung a left and followed signs back to the interstate.  No problem.