Sevendust Goes Acoustic At The Bourbon!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

Legendary metal band Sevendust paid a visit to one of their favorite cities, Lincoln, Nebraska last week (12.3.25) on their Southside Double -Wide tour. Sevendust put out a live acoustic album of the same title in 2003 which was a collection of hits, b-sides, and rarities. In celebration of the album Sevendust played an acoustic set that brought together new and old fans across the heavy metal scene.

Before Sevendust was the opener Corey Marks. He played a mix of country, pop, and roots rock songs for about 30 minutes. He got the Lincoln crowd going with his tales of love, mischief, and most of all whisky. Corey hails from Canada so when he told the crowd he had a cover for them I wasn't super shocked when he pulled out "Cuts Like A Knife" by Bryan Adams, because... Canada. He finished his set and thanked the crowd for coming out early to support. Corey has several albums available on streaming platforms.

After a bit of setup it was time for the legends Sevendust! I've seen Sevendust like seven or eight times now, but it never gets old. Their sound is so tight and Lajon is the ultimate charmer. His smooth soulful voice brightens the room every time and he always has jokes for days. After the first song he shouted out some die-hards in the front row and said "This ain't nothing but a family reunion, huh?" You could tell the fans had been to several Sevendust shows over the years. Lajon joked that they have been a band for 10,000 years and they're actually time travelers. I know for sure they've been going for at least 30 years. I'm pretty sure they played the Ranch Bowl in Omaha back in 1996 or maybe it was 1997? Someone in the comments let us know if you attended one of those incredible shows. My wife who is cooler than me was there when Lajon hung from the Ranch Bowl rafters!

One of my favorite parts of the set came about halfway through when Lajon shouted out a worker from Ya Ya's pizza next door to the Bourbon. He said he went there for lunch and she was super sweet. He was going to go across the street for dinner, but on the corner there was a guy yelling really loud to himself and hitting the light pole with a bunch of karate moves. Lajon said there was very little chance he could walk past him without getting into some kind of scuffle, so he just kept to himself and went to YaYa's for dinner. Guitarist Clint joked to Lajon that he had a surprise and the light pole guy was backstage waiting to fight him. Lajon laughed and said well that light pole was getting it's @ss whipped so he didn't want any part of it.

Another highlight of the set was when the band played a beautiful cover of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt". Of course Lajon had to mention Johnny Cash as he will forever be linked to the song. He said the band recorded the song in the studio the day they got the news that Johnny had passed. It was such a cool piece of rock history!

What an amazing show. If you missed Sevendust last week, don't fret! They are coming to the Steelhouse in May next year with Alterbridge. Tickets are moving fast but if you act soon you can catch one of the greatest live bands still in the game!

Thanks so much to Sevendust management for photo access and shout out to The Bourbon for putting on such a great event.

Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!