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Niagara Falls,NY-Western New York and the Greater Niagara region were treated to the first solo performance by the lead singer of the band “Godsmack,” Sully Erna. I want to start off by saying that the traditional hard core Godsmack fans who were expecting an electric guitar and balls out rock out show, were probably surprised and possibly disappointed. Why you ask? The show was about being as stripped and raw as you could possibly get! Only an electric guitar and a piano accompanied Sully on this night. Throw rugs, incense, and a lone stool completed the “storyteller” type of set up. A screen was used during some songs to convey messages during songs like “Eyes of a Child,” Running Blind,” and “Until Then.” This evening was all about the music and not what type of instruments that were played to bring the message across. Sully took questions and talked to the audience about some of his life changing experiences throughout the performance. Unfortunately when you have this type of forum, with some fans not knowing what the night was about, you get the more than occasional yells of “Sully, rock out!” or “play Get Away!” This did not detract Sully or the fans that were in attendance.
Sully explained how the original idea of the band name came off of an Alice in Chains’ “Dirt” CD. It then came to light during a photo shoot of the original band when the drummer at the time got a cold sore and Sully as ribbing him about it. Karma came back at Sully the very next day as he showed up to practice with an even bigger cold sore than his drummers! The phrase “God must have smacked you hard for ribbing on the drummer for that cold sore,” was uttered aloud and the name stuck after that!
Sully even joked that “People probably think I go home and crank up Slayer all day!!” He goes on by saying “Even though I like Slayer, that couldn’t be farther from the truth!” Sully elaborated that he really doesn’t listen to too much rock music and that Ray Charles and Etta James are his favorites when he is at home. Sully played some new music that included “Eyes of a Child.” This tune talked about how much he was affected by the Aids epidemic that is going on in Africa. Another new song called “Till Then” was in reference of our troops overseas. Sully also touched upon his childhood and his years growing up and what music meant to him and how it saved him. He went into the story of a friend of his committing suicide when he was younger. He said from that point on he knew music would be the path he would choose. At the end of the show, an up-tempo version of “Voodoo” was performed.
For the encore, Sully put the acoustic guitar down and showed his chops on the piano. A wide array of tunes were selected for his encores that ranged from the Beatles “Hey Jude” to the Pink Panther theme. Sully is one of the most talented musicians you will see perform either with his band Godsmack or by performing solo. On this night, the solo performance was just what the doctor ordered!
Set List:
Asleep
Realign
Homeward
Voices
Running Blind
Nutshell
Serenity
Eyes of a Child
Hollow
Nothing Else Matters
Voodoo
Keep Away
Encores: (all done with piano)
Melody that included instrumental from the movie “Love Story”
Till Then
Pink Panther Theme
Dream On and Hey Jude (melody)
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