Stryper Concert (2026)

I'm a big fan of Stryper but hadn't seen them live in over 20 years.   When I saw they were hitting a small town nearby, me and a buddy decided to go.  We were lucky enough to literally gets seats 1 and 2 on the front row.  I'm so glad we did.  This was a great experience.  I know they aren't as young as they once were and you never know how a band will sound.  I thought they sounded great.  The bangers banged and the band really delivered.

They still bring plenty of energy to the stage.  Being so close was huge.  They are right there and you really feel the music and a connection.  I really enjoy concerts but don't go to that many nowadays.  The combination of the band, the seats and the venue really made this a winner and my buddy felt the same.

Stryper still puts out new music and their latest album, Throne of Thorns, was released on September 25th.  It was their 18th album.

The band is Michael Sweet (Lead Singer, Guitars), Oz Fox (Lead Guitars), Perry Richardson (Bassist), and Robert Sweet (Drums).

Stryper still plays most of the fan favorites and it was great hearing them live again.  There was no opening band and they played 18 songs.  This is the 5th time I've seen them live.  

1986, 1987, 1988, 2003, 2026

And yes, they still throw bibles into the crowd.  My buddy caught one.  I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the concert.  You really don't know what to expect as bands get older but Stryper sounded good and it was so much fun.  

SETLIST:

Battle Hymn of the Republic (Played prior to the band taking the stage)

I'm Alright (I'm Okay)

Calling on You

Free

Divider

Sorry

Loud 'n' Clear

Surrender

All for One

More Than a Man

In God We Trust

Revelation

Always There for You

No More Hell to Pay

When We Were Kings

Alone Again

Soldiers Under Command

Sing-Along Song

To Hell With the Devil

Skillet Concert (2025)

 

For whatever reason I've never gotten around to posting about this Skillet concert in 2025.  I'm a big fan and I hadn't seen them since 2018.  They were just as good now.  I love rock-n-roll and as someone who cut my teeth on 80s rock Skillet's hard rock sound with melodic tones really works for me.  Skillet sounded great.  There was no opening group which I enjoyed.  We got 18 songs and it was a blast.  The audience was really a mix.  Skewed a bit younger than me, though I wasn't the oldest by far, but the crowd seemed to come from all walks of life.  Skillet is a Christian group who doesn't hide their faith.  My favorite albums are Awake, Unleashed and Victorious.  Glad I got to see them, and it was a great experience.

I saw Skillet in Effingham, IL at a small venue which was great.  I don't see many concerts nowadays and one of the reasons is I like to avoid big cities and the hassle.  This worked out well.  The venue was easy to get in and out of and provided an excellent viewing experience.  My seats were good so no complaints here.

Not a huge production but it isn't needed.  I'm fine with just letting the band belt out favorites.  They do have a cellist play during the intro and on a few songs, they have risers and their drummer, Jen Ledger will come out front to sing on a few songs.  And she sings on many of their songs while drumming.

Band members: John Cooper and wife Korey Cooper, Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison. 

Site: Skillet.com  YouTube

Setlist: Surviving the Game, Feel Invincible, Rise, Awake and Alive, Sick of It, Legendary, Ash in the Wind, Never Surrender, Whispers in the Dark, Lions, Those Nights, Hero, Not Gonna Die, Unpopular, Psycho in My Head, Comatose, Monster, The Resistance

I Went to a Concert: Alice Cooper and Halestorm

Me and the 19 year-old daughter took in the Alice Cooper, Halestorm and Motionless in White concert Thursday night.  It was a great time with all three bands putting on a good show.  Alice Cooper's show was a huge theatrical presentation.  While I've always liked Alice I'm definitely not a hardcore fan nor did I know many of his songs prior to getting ready for the concert.  He sounded really good and I think this vocal style helps his vocals stand the test of time.  He is 71 but really you don't see it in the show.  I'm sure it is different from what he put on 30, 40, 50 years ago but we thought he had a lot of energy and rocked the stage.  

Alice had a great band and everything you expect from an Alice Cooper concert - guillotine, giant baby, teen Frankenstein, a decked out set and all the trimmings.  It really made for a fun show to watch.  A couple of videos folks have uploaded to YouTube from the show:  Poison and School's Out (Lizzy Hale joined Alice on stage for the finale)

 Alice played 21 songs (setlist here) but it seemed to go very quick.  He doesn't interact with the audience which I don't think I've ever seen at a concert which probably plays into the pacing.  He never talked to the crowd until the end when he introduced the band and thanked the crowd.  It isn't a negative.  Just different.  So glad we had this opportunity and for the first song of the encore (Under My Wheels) he came out in the stage in a customized St. Louis Blues jersey (#19, Cooper).  Nice nod to the local crowd which everyone loved.

If Halestorm wasn't on the bill I probably wouldn't have gone to this concert.  It isn't anything against Alice Cooper but I am a big Halestorm fan and that tipped the scales.  Lizzy Hale and the boys were great.  A ton of energy and great music.  As an opening act they were only able to play 11 songs (setlist here) which was the only negative.  I really wanted more.  I just can't say enough them and my daughter and I both agreed they were the highlight of the night for us.  A few videos folks put up on YouTube from the night:  Familiar Taste of Poison, Love Bites, I Get Off  

Motionless in White look and sound like a Marilyn Manson family reunion.  And that wasn't a bad thing.  They play very hard and we both really enjoyed them though we had no clue who they were prior to them getting on stage.  I won't go search out their music but again they were good onstage and I liked their energy and driving music.

The venue is top notch and everything was a win for us.  Getting to see a classic in Alice Cooper and a personal favorite in Halestorm made for a great night.

Skillet Concert

I was able to take in a Skillet concert in Carbondale, IL on the 26th.  Skillet is hard rock but the really turn it up a few notches live.  I was lucky enough to snag 4th row tickets for about $72 out the door.  That included a Q&A session with Skillet and their opening act, For King and Country, before the show.  First and foremost Skillet blew me away.  It seems as though Skillet’s music was made to be played live.  The band’s energy and great music made for one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had.  While there was some cool things like the risers raising the band into the air or the drum set moving forward this was just a rock show.  Front man John Cooper has a ton of energy which keeps the crowd going throughout the concert.  Jen Ledger provides great accompanying vocals and drumming while Korey Cooper (John’s wife) provides bass.  Seth Morrison is lead guitar and is really good.

The 14 song set list had six songs from their current album Unleashed with past albums Rise, Awake, and Comatose all well represented.  The group has charted really well on the rock charts in sales and in airplay.  Anyone who is remotely familiar with the group will recognize the songs and the hits.  I can’t argue at all with their choice of songs and really didn’t have any I thought they omitted.  Bottom line is I thought Skillet was great and the concert experience as a whole was a blast.     

Short Skillet clip.  Sound is horrible thanks to my phone but it should give you a good perspective from where I sat.

For King and Country skews more pop than hard rock but put on an awesome show.  This video is a good showing of what they do throughout the entire concert.  I knew nothing of this group going in, sans a quick internet search, but left knowing these two brothers from Australia, and their 6-man band, really know how to entertain a crowd with really good music. 

Jen Ledger, the drummer from Skillet, played a three song set as the opening opening group.  She has started a side project, Ledger, and had released and EP the week prior to the concert.  She did a great job and her music was good. 

SET LIST (ALBUM):

Feel Invincible (Unleashed)

Whispers in the Dark (Comatose)

Sick of It (Rise)

Lions (Unleashed)

Back from the Dead (Unleashed)

Awake and Alive (Awake)

Not Gonna Die (Rise)

Hero (Awake)

The Resistance (Unleashed)

Comatose (Comatose)

Undefeated (Unleashed)

Monster (Awake)

Rebirthing (Comatose)

I Went to a Concert: Journey, The Doobie Brothers and Dave Mason

Journey

Me and the youngest daughter, she is 16, saw Journey, The Doobie Brothers, and Dave Mason a week ago.  The three are on tour dubbed as San Francisco Fest 2016.  This was my second concert in two weeks.  I reviewed the Heart/Joan Jett/Cheat Trick concert then.    This concert had a different vibe to it.  Journey and The Doobie Brothers are bigger bands in the scheme of things and it showed.  Journey puts on an awesome show to include better lighting and video.  These guys are used to playing before huge crowds and have a ton of hits to back them up.  The majority of the band are in their sixties but lead singer Arnel Pineda is the exception.  He is 48 but he runs and jumps around stage like he is in his twenties.  Bottom line is Journey put on a great show.  We absolutely loved it.  High energy and these guys are still great at what they do. 

The Doobie Brothers really surprised me.  I knew they were a big band in their day and was not surprised to recognize many of their songs once they started.  Still I was not ready for the enthusiasm and energy they brought.  From the time they launched into Takin' It to the Streets the crowd didn't sit down.  They played very well and knew how to work the crowd.  Not knowing what to expect going in I was pleasantly surprised.  So glad they were on this ticket as I doubt I'd ever see them otherwise.

Dave Mason was good but as he is more of a writer as opposed to a singer he was not someone I had heard of.  He was good and I can say I recognized a couple of songs. 

Journey

1. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

2. Be Good to Yourself

3. Only the Young

4. Guitar Solo (with "The Star-Spangled Banner")

5. Stone in Love

6. Any Way You Want It

7. Lights

8. Piano Solo

9. Open Arms

10. Who's Crying Now

11. Escape

12. La Do Da w/drum solo

13. Wheel in the Sky

14. Faithfully

15. Don't Stop Believin'

Encore:

16. Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

Doobie Brothers

1. Jesus Is Just Alright (The Art Reynolds Singers cover)

2. Rockin' Down the Highway

3. Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While) (Kim Weston cover)

4. Another Park, Another Sunday

5. Sweet Maxine

6. Eyes of Silver

7. Spirit

8. Clear as the Driven Snow

9. Keyboard Solo

10. Takin' It to the Streets

11. The Doctor

12. Black Water

13. Long Train Runnin'

14. China Grove

Encore:

15. Without You

16. Listen to the Music

Dave Mason

1. Only You Know and I Know

2. Rock and Roll Stew (Traffic song)

3. We Just Disagree

4. Look at You Look at Me

5. Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic song)

6. Feelin' Alright (Traffic song)

7. All Along the Watchtower

I Went to a Concert: Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Cheap Trick

I recently attended my first concert in many years with my daughter.  It was the “Rock Hall Three for All” tour featuring Cheap Trick, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and headliner Heart.  We had a great time.  All three of the bands were great playing a mix of old and new songs keeping it interesting.   At the bottom are the set lists for each group.  Cheap Trick opened up and was a fun group.  I knew maybe half their songs but didn’t know their closing tune, Auf Wiedersehe”.  Even after looking it up at home I’m not familiar with this tune.  All good but I was surprised that they closed with a song that was at least somewhat familiar.  Again these guys put on a very good show.  Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were next and also were very entertaining.  I knew the majority of their tunes and Joan Jett sounded great.  They were also very enjoyable to watch.

 


The main event was Heart and they didn’t disappoint.  They played three songs released from their album that was released that same week amongst classic hits from their large library.    Ann and Nancy Wilson still bring a lot of energy and hard rocking music to the stage. I really enjoyed the entire set with new songs Two and I Jump, and classics Kick It Out, What About Love, These Dreams, Alone and the hard rocking Barracuda standing out to me.  Ann and Nancy sound great and thought they put on an excellent show. 

All of these bands skew older with the members of Cheap Trick and Ann and Nancy Wilson all in their sixties.  Joan Jett is right there at 57.  So any show they put on has to be in context which makes the shows they put on that much more amazing.  Their singing voices aren’t what they used to be but they still sounded great.  In fact I was very surprised to see how old they were when we looked up their ages after the concert.  I last saw Heart in 19XX, Cheap Trick in 19XX and Joan Jett in 2001.  Wow, that was some time ago. 

 

Going to a concert now is very different than what I remember.  I know the experience isn’t the same everywhere but this was definitely setup right. We were at a dedicated concert venue with the standard merchandise stands but there were also plenty of places to get food and drinks.  This included the ability to have it delivered to your box seat if you were lucky enough to be seated there.  The prices are astronomical but I guess that is to be expected.  You can upgrade your experience with things like special parking and the ability to enter the facility via a quick access line all at a price of course.  I did pay for both of those and it was worth it I must say.  There are also VIP options (special entrance, seating, and an exclusive covered eating area) and separate meet and greet packages with the bands that are available.  These are very expensive but if you have the money I understand why you would do it. 

Bottom line is I had a great time as did my daughter who was pleasantly surprised at how many songs she knew.  Next up is Journey, The Doobie Brothers and Dave Mason with another daughter. 

Heart
Wild Child
What About Love
Beautiful Broken
Bebe Le Strange
These Dreams
Two
Alone
Straight On
Kick It Out
I Jump
Crazy on You
Barracuda
Magic Man

Cheap Trick

Hello There
Big Eyes
California Man
Lookout
When I Wake Up Tomorrow
In the Street
Magical Mystery Tour
I’m Waiting for the Man
The Flame
I Want You to Want Me
Dream Police
Surrender
Auf Wiedersehen

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Bad Reputation
Cherry Bomb
Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)
TMI
You Drive Me Wild
Light of Day
Fragile
Love is Pain
The French Song
Any Weather
I Love Rock and Roll
Crimson and Clover
I Hate Myself for Loving You
Everyday People