Uproar Music Festival

It seems that when large entertainment tours roll through Denver, a problem arises. Mayhem Festival, featuring the likes of Korn and Avenged Sevenfold, decided they needed two days and two different venues to perform at; the Oddball Comedy Tour had one of the smallest lineups for their Red Rocks show; Riot Fest, as was all over the news, got kicked out of their initial venue and moved to Sports Authority Field. Uproar wasn’t any different, opting for only half of their talent to rock the 1st Bank Center. Luckily, the artists that performed were some of the top bands on the tour.

Pop Evil opened the night fairly early around 6pm. A fairly new band, they only recently received their first number one hit with “Trenches”. They are really the new kids on the block, just getting a foothold in mainstream rock, but they pour their hearts into each performance, and that makes for an entertaining show. Behind Leigh Kakaty, their singer, no one stands still. Including their drummer, Chachi Riot, who is one of the most entertaining people to sit on the throne behind the kit.

Buckcherry, or more appropriately, F**kcherry, followed up next. Being an older band, they need to find ways to stay relevant. Unfortunately, they did with their new album, “F**k”, consisting of songs such as “F**k”, “I don’t f**king care”, and “We’re a f**king band” (the last two might be made up). They only sang, and talked about two topics: drugs and cursing.
It’s sad they had to resort that style of “shock value” because they are great, Los Angeles based, performers; they’re almost like Steel Panther: both are fun to watch, fun to listen to, but Steel Panther is funny and Buckcherry is desperate.

Skillet followed, opening their set with a cellist and violinist. Of course, after their little epic intro, Skillet came out to some of the loudest screams of the night. Fans of their records ought to go to a Skillet concert; they are one of the few bands that are better live. They combine adrenaline and passion that will make even the laziest of concert goers out of breath. That comes from experience: I don’t mosh, hardly dance, and prefer a back of the room, listening to the music approach to my concerts. I was still out of breath by the end of their set. Even their orchestral “Awake and Alive” arrangement was intense. Coupled with their stage that lifted almost everyone up to the ceiling, they were almost the best band of the night. Surely good enough to go after Seether, who came up next before the headliners, Godsmack.

Seether is good; they have good chemistry, but they’re too shy for being a best selling rockband (anyone remember “Remedy” from back in the day? “Fake it” maybe?). In between songs, Jon Kooper of Skillet would talk to the audience, possibly foreshadowing another tour; Shaun Morgan of Seether would loop a guitar riff while the lights were off. There was almost no audience interaction (yes, they did give away picks and sticks at the end though). Good songs trumped by a lethargic show . . . Thankfully they had a ton of hits to choose from. And contrasted Godsmack immensely.

Godsmack is headlining Uproar, and they deserve it. Though their newest album, “1000HP” is their newest in years, they haven’t lost anything. Despite the show being inside the 1st Bank Center, there was fire and fireworks. And flying beer.

Opening up their set was a video on a huge screen (which had some “technical difficulties” coming down). As everyone was ripe with anticipation, the screen fell and Godsmack came out screaming. Fire erupted during multiple songs, and fireworks, which concluded the usual “Sully vs. Shannon” drum-off, but also flying beer. Sully proved he still has what it takes to be a Rockstar by not only inspiring people to support live music (“You can beat the energy you feel going to a live show”), or by getting the crowd involved by having a “beer catching” contest to engage the crowd (Sully also hasn’t become fat and slow, throwing cups all the way to the back of the arena): he got every person in the 1st Bank Center to get up and be a part of the music.

Uproar brought their heavy hitters out to Denver, and they didn’t disappoint. In fact, if you’re into heavy, high energy, explosive situations, you should have come out to Uproar.