Chad Gray wows a wild crowd on his limited-run 30 Years of Madness solo tour with support from Never the Crash.
Local band Never the Crash warms up the crowd with a rocking set. They have a sound that is a mix of rock and alternative metal. They open their set with “Abysmal,” which gets the crowd fired up. Their set also includes several other tracks from their debut album, including “Sojourn to Obsolete,” “World Premiere,” “When Darkness Falls,” “Too Many Ghosts,” and “Breathing Down the Neck of Fate.” The band is comprised of Bryan Kelly on vocals, guitarist Donald Dobos, guitarist Nate Cocke, bassist Christian Poehner, and Billy Davidson on drums. Donald is highly active, headbanging, and throwing in jumps. They get a great round of applause from the early-arriving fans after every song.
The anticipation builds for headliner Chad Gray to hit the stage. After a successful tour with Mudvayne, he was not ready to take a break and decided to launch this limited-run 30 Years of Madness solo tour. With 30 years of music between Mudvayne and Hellyeah, there are plenty of great songs to make a setlist. Regardless of what songs they play, the fans are in for a special treat tonight.The crowd erupts with loud cheers when the band and Chad take the stage. They kick it off with a Mudvayne classic, “Not Falling,” which features the heavy drumming by Devin Attard (The Word Alive), the pulsing bass of Nick Villareal (ex-Sons of Texas), and the guitars of Marcus Rafferty (Mudvayne) and Joe Bonasorte. It does not take long before Chad is on the pole, dividing the small pit up front, and leaning out into the crowd. The fans love it! Chad is a wild man on stage and rarely stands still. With his face painted on one half as he wears for Mudvayne, he often plays up to the fans and throws in several jumps off the riser. Next up is the ripping song “X,” followed by a fan favorite, “Moth,” which has fans singing along. It is one of the highlights of the set.
After “-1” and “Death Blooms,” the crowd goes wild with bouncing and horns up during “Sangre por Sangre (Blood for Blood).” Red lights are appropriate to add to the vibe of the song. After “Silenced,” Chad takes a moment to talk about whether he is being honest with himself, friends, and family, and whether he should really say this. He lets the crowd know that if they are experiencing this, they are not alone. He certainly has a way of connecting with his fans. They then launch into “Hush,” which, once again, has the crowd singing along. “Demons in the Dirt” is another heavy song that finds Chad jumping high off the riser, along with plenty of smoke on stage. Before “Say When,” Chad pays homage to Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell, who he says are most certainly looking down from above.
Chad engages the crowd in some repeat after me of “all work and no play makes me a dull boy” before playing “Dull Boy.” During another highlight song, “World So Cold,” Chad goes into the crowd again and lets out lots of screams. “Human” has a great beginning with rapid-fire drums, heavy bass, and guitars that get huge applause, cheers, and whistles from the fans. After “Hellyeah,” Marcus leads off with some acoustic guitar on “Alcohaulin’ Ass,” and Chad engages the crowd in singing along. Probably the biggest highlight of the show is “Dig,” which has some of the most thunderous drums and bass of the evening, and it ignites the crowd with a mosh pit. After thanking the crowd, Chad and the band exit the stage.
Returning to the stage, they play another Mudvayne classic, “Happy?,” which leaves the crowd wanting more. Before leaving for the evening, Chad exclaims, “We love you guys very much. Thank you so much. We’ll see you next time. I love you.” Chad and the band are playing a second show at The Machine Shop, and they have a few other dates on this short tour, along with a few festival dates. If you get a chance, try to make one of those shows. It is well worth it.
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