93x Family Reunion – Xcel Enegry Center – St. Paul MN – September 26th 2024

93X Family Reunion Featuring Godsmack with Chevelle, Wage War, Nothing More, and Sleep Theory – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, MN – September 26^th, 2024

Presented by 93x and Live Nation

Review and photos by Kate Klaus

The 93X Family Reunion show featured a stacked lineup of heavy hitting rockers, headlined by Godsmack, with support from Chevelle, Wage War, Nothing More, and Sleep Theory. Despite being a Thursday night, the Xcel Energy center was packed and alive with fiery energy for this charged evening of rock.

Memphis rockers Sleep Theory started off the night with a fierce entrance matching the wolf backdrop accenting the stage.  Frontman Cullen Moore commanded the stage and made it clear why these guys are quickly rising on the rock scene. Their music was mainly heavy, filled with solid guitar riffs and powerful vocals, but was integrated with some Memphis blues feels at times, and matched with powerful lyrics and great energy, it was a great opening to the show.

Nothing More followed and raised the energy to an even higher level.  Opening with House on Sand, lead singer Jonny Hawkins roared onto the stage with his characteristic bare feet and painted chest, powerfully delivering fervent lyrics with deep emotion and power.  Hawkins is a force on stage, and one of the most commanding and captivating frontmen on the heavy rock scene.  Being a larger lineup for this show, their stage set was missing the well-known scorpion tail, but even with the more minimal production and props, their show was full of their characteristic energy and fire.  They ended their set with “This is the Time”, leaving the crowd cheering for more.

Up next was Wage War, who entered the stage to a much darker and mysterious lighting and minimalist set.  Briton Bond walked out onto the edge of the stage and started the performance sitting on one of the front risers, immediately connecting with the crowd as he opened with “The Show’s About to Start”.  While it was a somewhat low-key entrance, mid-song the performance exploded, with CO₂ cannons firing from all sides of the stage and the heavy drumbeats punctuated by Bond’s screams and growls matched with lights punctuating the arena.  Often shrouded in fog and low light, their performance was darker than the previous sets but continuing to carry that powerful energy and filling the arena with intense sound.  They ended with “Manic” with a dazzling light display to close an intense performance.

Chevelle were up next, and returned to a more minimalist stage setup, directing the focus to frontman Pete Loeffler’s performance and vocals.  While sometimes a less active performer, Loeffler was clearly fired up by the energy in the crowd from the previous acts and was animated and charismatic with his performance.  Drummer Sam Loeffler shared this energy and was often seen smiling down from his kit on the enthusiastic crowd.  Toward the end of their set, they played crowd favorites ‘Send the Pain Below” and “The Red”, on which Loeffler encouraged the crowd to take over singing, filling the arena.

To close the night, Godsmack gave the crowd a video glimpse to their stage entry, with lead singer Sully Erna full of smiles as he was filmed walking from the back halls of the Xcel Center all the way to the stage.  A screen on the back of the stage alternated between interesting video clips paired to the songs, and close-ups of the band members performing. They opened with “Surrender” setting up a powerful set of hits.  Drummer Shannon Larking was hypnotizing to watch behind the kit, playing with intense energy and fervor.  The crowd was treated to “Speak” and “Straight Out of Line”, new additions to their live set.  The ended the night with an encore including “Under Your Scars”, “Bulletproof” and “I Stand Alone”, ending an amazing night of rock from a fantastic lineup of bands.