Sevendust 20th Anniversary: Live At The Space

Sevendust is a band that has an eternal quality to them. They have consistently put out quality albums, toured the world, and been generous with their fans for the entirety of their 25 years as a band, and 20 since the release of their self-titled début album on TVT Records, now defunct. After a one-off show this spring where they played that début album in its entirety, they have booked a few small tours where they continued to celebrate their legacy, as well as keep an eye on the future.

I went to the show with my longtime friend Francis, she and I have bonded over this band in their early days, and both remaining fans. Getting out to the venue early we hung out with other fans and found we common bonds with a lot of these fans that have stuck by this band for all these years. The Space as a venue is terrific and really great from the sound to the stage to the staff.

Another thing was I was fortunate to hang out and hear the sound check before the show and hang out with them after for a bit. It was refreshing to see them with the same spirit, patience, and kindness collectively that they have always.

After some openers, the large banner from the original album unfurled and the stage was set. The was a magic feeling in the air as the band took the stage. Coming out to the strains of the opening of ‘Black’ the crowd lit up. The band have a definite air of love in their hearts and were giving their energy back. The majority of the début album is rarely heard these days live, and the band seemed really energized to bring back early hits like ‘Bitch’, ‘Terminator’, ‘Too Close To Hate’, ‘Prayer’, and ‘My Ruin’. At several points frontman, LaJon Witherspoon got choked up talking about the band’s history, the ups and downs, and everything else. It was an indescribable feeling of family, the entire audience and the band united, that I really can’t say I have felt too often in the 1000s of shows I have been too in my life.

After the bands played an extended version of ‘Born To Die’, the band took a short break and came back out for a second, shorter set or long encore. Crushing their way through powerful songs like the brutal ‘Face To Face’, the heartrending ‘Shine’, and the epic hit song ‘Thank You’, you really get a sense of a band that despite their long history, they have many more stories to tell.