Sevendust Slays The Astro!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

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Sunday (8.9) The Astro was rocking to the sounds of the 2000s with the co-headline "Seven Dead" tour! Over 1,000 fans packed the Astro to catch heavy hitters Theory of a Deadman and Sevendust. Opening the show were newcomers Return to Dust. Let's get into it!

I had just caught Return to Dust opening for Yungblud at Stir Cove on Tuesday so it was wild seeing them again so soon. I had shot photos of them when they opened for Sevendust last year at the Bourbon in Lincoln so this would be my third time seeing them. I'm proud to say they crushed their set and got the crowd pumped up for the headliners. They sounded really tight as a band and had the kids in the front jumping!

I spotted a few fans in the crowd wearing Alice in Chains shirts and I asked them if they were there for Return to Dust. A few people said they were and one guy had no idea who RTD was. I let him know they're part of a new wave of grunge bands and they're out here making some waves. I've heard their name on podcasts a lot over the last few months around the topic of "who's on the come up". I can see them getting much bigger over the next couple years. Return to Dust has a good thing going. If they come back through to Omaha or Lincoln I would highly recommend checking them out!

After Return to Dust it was time get even more dusty with the mighty Sevendust!! I've shot photos of Sevendust at least six times now and I've seen them at least 9 or 10 times, but I tell you what, it never gets old. What a solid band. Year after year they hit the road and give it their all. They're such humble guys too. Every time I see them it feels like a family reunion. Lajon and the boys put a whoopin on the Astro and had the crowd rocking from start to finish. Sevendust is on the road in support of their new album One and they didn't take long to break out one of their new songs, opening with the title track. From there they took us all the way back to 1999 with "Denial". This got the walls shaking from the thunderous bass and hard hitting drums.

After the trip to the 90s Sevendust brought us back to the present and spoke about their new album and how it's been doing really well. Lajon mentioned that they were able to tour all over Eruope and had packed crowds everywhere they went. The band broke into one of their new songs "Is This The Real You" and got a huge pop of energy from the crowd. From front to back everyone was singing along loudly. It's so cool to see these legendary bands so deep into their career having such a resurgence. Lajon even pointed out all the kids in the audience saying "welcome to the family". I know the feeling! My 12 year old was the one who pushed me to shoot this show because he loves Sevendust. It's been really fun getting to see all these shows with him and watching him discover new music on his own. About halfway through the set Lajon brought out his wife and daughter to say hi to the crowd and said she's going to be off to college in just a few weeks. Time flies! It was a really sweet moment.

Over the next hour Sevendust melted our faces with all the classics ending on "Face to Face" from my favorite album Seasons. I've covered Sevendust a ton over the years, and they remain one of the best live bands around. If they come back next year (I'm sure they will), snag those tickets!

Last up was Theory of a Deadman from Canada. I had heard some of their songs on the radio, but I had never seen them live before. While there were a lot of fans there for TOADM I wasn't in that camp. They clearly have a following, as the room was packed, and a lot of fans in the front row did the VIP deluxe tickets. Heck, one lady even had a TOADM tattoo!

I never want to spoil anyone's fun, but they weren't really in my lane. I tried to get some good photos though for anyone who was psyched about seeing them and wants to reminisce. Enjoy!

Thanks so much to Sevendust management for photo access. Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!

Sevendust

Return to Dust

Theory of a Deadman