On November 9, 2014 before I started photographing and reviewing concerts, I attended a show at House of Blues Orlando I would never forget. One of my favorite bands, Sevendust, was performing an acoustic show of their music. Getting to hear songs I love in a stripped-down format was incredible. And seeing them in this very intimate format was something I would never forget. Skip ahead to Winter 2019 where I remember commenting on a post on the Sevendust Facebook page that I wished they’d do another acoustic show. Literally days after that, the band announced their Acoustic Xmas shows with three dates with one of them being at House of Blues Orlando, a place the band considers a second home for performances. There was no way I was going to miss this show and was blessed to be able to cover it for The Photo Pit. It was a show I will truly never forget.
The entire show was acoustic from all the bands starting off with Stitched Up Heart. Formed in 2010 the rock band based out of Los Angeles, CA had a number of lineup changes during their first few years. They released 3 EPs before finally settling in on their lineup and sound they wanted to present. In 2015 the band was signed to Another Century record label and released their single “Finally Free” which hit the Top 20 on the Active Rock Radio Charts. Two more singles “Monster” and “Event Horizon” were released before the release of their debut album Never Alone in 2016. The band will be releasing their second album Darkness on March 13, 2020. Stitched Up Heart is Alecia “Mixi” Demner (vocals), James Decker (drums), Merritt Goodwin (guitar), and Randy Mathias (bass).
The crowd cheered as the band took the stage. Alecia is no stranger to Orlando as she was born and raised here before moving out to Los Angeles. She explained they were excited to have this opportunity to strip down their songs and perform them acoustically for the crowd. James also explained he was performing on keyboards as his drumset was lost. They opened with “This Skin” and “Warrior” from their upcoming album Darkness. This was definitely a unique experience for fans of the band, instead of hearing hard rocking tunes to discover a chilling and amazing performance acoustically. Alecia pointed out her father was in the crowd that night and suggested to fans to buy him a drink. Alecia‘s vocal performance during the show was unreal. She has a strong voice with a beautiful falsetto. James did a great job replacing his drums for a keyboard during this set (that he said he learned in under a week!). Merritt and Randy did awesome giving these hard rock songs the acoustic vibe, playing them beautifully. The cool surprise of the evening was hearing them perform the cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”. After seeing this unique performance, I absolutely need to see them rocking out in their full setup. Stitched Up Heart I’m sure will be on the road again soon and if they come near you, don’t miss them! You can find their music and merch at their website HERE.
Deepfall was next to the stage. I recognized the band’s name from a press release for Alter Bridge that Deepfall would be joining them on the second leg of the U.S. Walk The Sky tour. And fans will be in for a great time with this band. Hailing from Grand Rapids, MI, Deepfall is hard rock, in your face, music. The band formed in 2015 and all the members have bonded together through their music community and now within Deepfall. They currently have one CD Broken released and I sense we’ll see more from them soon. Deepfall is Rich Hopkins (vocals), Anthony Battista (guitar), Max Carrillo (guitar), Nick Gray (drums), Taylor Brandt (bass), and Tim King (keyboards/management).
The crowd cheered for them when they hit the stage, but I could sense Deepfall was the unknown factor of this show. That didn’t last long when they started with a song titled “I’m Sick”. Even though this was acoustic, the song absolutely kicked ass with the hard-hitting drums from Nick and ripping guitar riffs from Anthony and Max. The crowd immediately recognized this band’s talent and was rocking along with the band. I actually loved how this song changes pace mid-way through the song showing some excellent song and music writing. They followed that with “Monster” that started headbanging bass riffs from Taylor. And what an amazing rock song it was. I was truly impressed with what I was hearing. For an acoustic show, instead of slowing it down, the band put the pedal down and rocked out hard. Deepfall also decided to pull out their own cover performance of one of the most well-known Journey songs in “Separate Ways”. Tim‘s keyboards finally got to shine during this song, though he seemed content being out of the spotlight. Rich‘s vocals need to be discussed. I could tell he wanted to hold back because this was an acoustic show. But, he let his instinct take over and went full out belting lyrics, pulling them back when necessary, and then letting loose again. This man’s vocals for rock are perfect. With a frontman that has killer pipes and a musical accouterment of talented players, Deepfall is a band that will elevate in the rock scene. The fans absolutely loved them and I look forward to seeing them come back to Orlando. You can find their music and merch HERE. Their setlist from that evening was:
- I’m Sick
- Monster
- Ghost
- Separate Ways
- Cancer
- Wasted
- M.F.K.S. (Voice of the Broken)
Before they came to the stage, WJRR‘s Supa Dave came up to announce the band as they were playing under the banner of the Blizzard of Rock. Soon enough the chants of “Sevendust! Sevendust! Sevendust!” started up to urge the band to come to the stage. Sevendust the metal band from Atlanta, GA formed back in 1994 under a few different names before this one. In 1997 the band releases their self-titled album and it immediately took flight. With singles like “Black” and “Bitch” there was no doubt Sevendust was running headlong for success. The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for 16 weeks and was certified as Gold. Their next album Home released in 1999 had “Denial” as the lead single and the album peaked at #19 on the Billboard 200. Over the next 22 years the band released a total of 12 studio albums, with the last one All I See Is War released in 2018, and 1 live album, and millions of fans who love and support them. Sevendust is Lajon Witherspoon (vocals), Clint Lowery (lead guitar), John Connolly (rhythm guitar), Vince Hornsby (bass), and Morgan Rose (drums).
When they finally hit the stage, the crowd went wild and the band appeared truly humbled by all the love. Much like Deepfall‘s performance, Sevendust wasn’t holding back and went full speed opening up with “Trust”. I remembered back in 2014 how much I loved that first acoustic show and to be at this show was definitely a dream come true. Sevendust was rocking House of Blues Orlando and the crowd was rocking back with them word for word. They followed up with “Denial” and before moving on Lajon stopped to tell a story to the crowd. It’s well known that Morgan Rose was recently hospitalized and had a surgery that questioned whether they would even perform the acoustic shows. Lajon explained how he received a group text that Morgan was in the hospital and the band needed to make a decision as to whether or not they go on tour with their brothers in Alter Bridge to the UK. He explained how the only thing he was thinking of was his brother in music was in the hospital and only Morgan‘s returned to health mattered. They decided they would not leave any Sevendust member behind and canceled the UK tour. And how pleased they were that Morgan was able to return to the stage with them and the crowd’s outpouring of love and adoration for him was unreal. Morgan looked truly overwhelmed with the response. Lajon also pointed out his brothers in Alter Bridge Mark Tremonti and Scott Phillips were in the balcony area with their families watching the show.
Sevendust went on to do some truly great songs that evening including “Xmas Day”, which I feel was built for acoustic, “Rumble Fish”, “Crucified”, and “Prayer”. In between one fan yelled out for them to play “Face to Face” to which they did an impromptu partial version, which actually was pretty damn good! Once again, this was a very intimate evening of Sevendust songs that were played with vigor, passion, and pure love of performing for the fans. I’ve listened to these songs over those past 22 years and each time I hear them live they sound better and better. There was lots of storytelling involved including how Lajon ran into his trailer to save his clothes and other things at Earthday Birthday 24 when another trailer caught fire. Clint took over lead vocals for their cover of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails that Johnny Cash recovered, which was spectacular as usual. Lajon reminded the fans that Clint has his own solo album God Bless The Regenades that will release on January 31, 2020. They, of course, played the other song built for acoustic performances, “Angel’s Son”. Lajon told the story of Sevendust being asked to write a song for a dedication album to James Lynn Strait the lead singer of Snot who died in a car accident in 1998. John wrote the music and Lajon only had one lyric written down for the song. He was a nervous wreck walking into the studio with nothing down, but somehow words just poured out the moment the music started and the song was born. And it was a beautiful performance to close out their set. They came out to encore “Black” the song that started it all for the band. Lajon told the fans they were taking a few months off after the acoustic shows but when they come back there will be a new Sevendust album coming. You can find their music and merchandise HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- Trust
- Denial
- Gone
- Xmas Day
- Skeleton Song
- Rumble Fish
- Crucified
- Disgrace
- Prayer
- Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover)
- Got a Feeling
- Angel’s Son
- Gone (encore)
Overall, I couldn’t have wished for a better show from all three bands. Acoustic performances by Sevendust are just spectacular and Deepfall and Stitched Up Heart did a great job as well. I’m looking forward to see all three bands again, but in particular ready to hear some new Sevendust in 2020!
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