With The Playstation Theater hitting its final days, this venue is certainly going out with a bang. Many metal shows have been hitting this venue to deliver one last brutal assault in the middle of Times Square. On September 24^th, 2019, Alter Bridge, Skillet and Dirty Honey deliver their own signature sounds of hard rock to uplift any spirit and speak to any soul.

Opening we get Dirty Honey. Dirty Honey is able to deliver a sound of rock that is familiar yet fresh. Like many modern rock bands such as Greta Van Fleet, Black Coffee and more, Dirty Honey delivers a modern style of hard rock while also incorporating many different styles in what we would hear in many classic rock acts such as Led Zeppelin, Sound Garden and Guns N Roses. John was able to deliver a classic guitar sound that cannot hide behind the smokescreen of distortion and gain. If a note were to be slightly off key, you would hear it. Note for note though, it was executed perfectly. Justin and Corey held the rhythm perfectly on bass and drums while vocalist Marc LaBelle hit notes as high as the ceiling with great pitch and harmonies while also having a great stage presence that interacted with the crowd.

Next, we got the co-headliners of the night, Skillet. With their new album Victorious fresh out, many fans eagerly waited to hear the new material live for the first time and also hear classics from albums such as Comatose and Awake. With every album, you are able to hear how this band evolved from the early days of Alien Youth and Collide to the modern day. With the amazing projection and lights and constant rolling in of fog, Skillet was able to deliver intensity, soul and life into the Playstation Theater. Opening with Feel Invincible and Not Gonna Die, no punches were pulled as Jon, Korey, Jen and Seth remained constantly moving on stage. We get the first taste of new material live with You Ain’t Ready. The reaction didn’t shift one bit as they played some newer material. Taking a trip back to 2006 with Comatose, chills were felt when they kicked in with Whispers in the Dark. Even a song that is more moody is still uplifting. After another fresh new track, Legendary, we get the classic, Awake and Alive. With a soft piano intro to lead you in, reminiscent of the remix they did, you are able to hear just how well John Cooper and Jen Ledger’s voice work together. Instantly kicking in with heaviness and emotion, Awake and Alive is a track that is able to make you feel exactly that.

After we hear Back from the Dead, Jen Ledger jumps from behind the drum kit as she collaborates with John Cooper again with Hero, all while fog consumes the stage. We get one more taste of new material with Victorious, which carried the momentum Skillet already obtained and then we get a more melancholy tune, Comatose. Even though this song is more emotional, the energy remained just as great as it did with a song like Awake and Alive. That is the best way to describe Skillet, even their darkest songs are still very uplifting. Ending with the classics, Monster and The Resistance, Skillet delivered energy, soul, beauty and fun to New York. This is another band, if not, THE BAND that proves that metal and rock is not all about darkness. This is a band that delivers energy to inspire and carry on.

At last, we get the headliner of the night, Alter Bridge. Alter Bridge is the perfect example of a band that combines classic rock and modern rock. They are a band to that will impress people who grew up with Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, as well as impress younger rock fans who have gotten into this genre with more modern bands such as Shinedown or Fozzy. While Myles Kennedy sang his heart out behind the microphone Mark Temonti and Brian Marshall were constantly moving around the stage and interacting with the audience through the entire set. They started off giving the audience a taste of brand new material with Wouldn’t you Rather off their new album, Walk the Sky, then taking a trip back almost a decade of ABIII with Isolation. Opening with a new song and kicking right into an older song, the audience didn’t even blink and they were singing along with Myles every step of the way. Taking a trip even further back into Blackbird with Buried Alive, many people were pleased as they took a trip back in time, and then we immediately fast forward to the present with another brand new song, Pay No Mind. As they continued to play from many eras of their discography, and the band constantly carried momentum, not having a single static moment on stage, they nailed every single beat, note and vocal down to a T.

It was a shock to see how they were able to move and engage without botching even a single note. The energy did not deviate at all as the night progressed and the band continued to dive into their catalogue playing tracks such as Addicted to Pain and In the Deep. While the band was clearly feeding off the crowd response, the crowd was equally responding to the energy that the band was able to feed them. Every note that Myles sang, the audience sang along as if it was the ultimate Rock N Roll choir. Ending this amazing night of connection and energy, we get two tracks from the earliest point of Alter Bridge’s career off the One Day Remains ere with Metalingus and Open Your Eyes. Ending with power, melody and raw energy and power, Alter Bridge delivered everything they have and then some.

To sum up this night, The Playstation Theater has about four or five bars inside, and all of them were practically empty most of the night as the audience remained in the venue and no one had any interest in leaving. Dirty Honey, Skillet and Alter Bridge each played in front of a packed room and nobody was leaving this realm of rock. This is another night that proves that Rock is like the matter of the earth around us, it can sure be created, but it cannot be destroyed.

Alter Bridge’s new album Walk the Sky comes out October 18^th 2019 on Napalm Records

Skillets new album Victorious is out now via Atlantic