Review & Photos by Tom LeuIf you’ve ever attended a large multi-day music festival, you know that the weather plays a significant role in the enjoyment of the event overall. A close second to the excellence of all the music pumped out at Northern Invasion 2017, was the fact that we got lucky and enjoyed excellent… no scratch that, perfect weather both days in Somerset Wisconsin on May 13th and 14th. Day 2, Mother’s Day, was fittingly even better than Day 1 weather-wise. Sunny skies, mild temps, and thick riffs were enjoyed by the 20,000+ in attendance over the weekend.
For the third year, the Northern Invasion festival featured the finest in new and veteran heavy rock and heavy metal acts. The really impressive part about this year’s line-up was the diversity represented among the 30 acts who performed. You had hardcore metal to hard rock blues, to power pop with more than a few jagged edges cutting through. There was something for everyone, with all acts bringing their A Games, and sporting big sounds on three stages.
Highlights from the acts that were shot, seen, and heard at Northern Invasion 2017…
Day 1:
As Lions – A great new band out of the U.K. featuring lead vocalist Austin Dickinson (son of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson) brought their brand of melodic and at times, symphonic hard rock first thing on Saturday. Predicting a bright future for these guys. Rival Sons – short and sweet = these guys are f*cking awesome! Why they were slotted so early in the day will forever remain a mystery to me. Great singing, great songs, great band. Dorothy – Female fronted band from LA. Bluesy, hard rock with great vocals and good looks. Citizen Zero – Modern, yet mainstream rockers with a charm, and a sound that’s as hooky as it’s hard rocking. The Struts – this U.K. band brought an intoxicating concoction that mixes the best of the Stones and Queen. Sporting swagger, bluesy rock and roll with an attitude and flair, these guys are the real deal. It’s rock and roll the way it’s supposed to f*cking be. Of Mice and Men – Bone crunching, hardcore metal with screams that could likely be heard all the way into Minnesota I’m convinced. I Prevail – The Detroit band consists of dual lead vocalists with no shortage of angst and anger that had the kids losing their minds. Crowd surfers were as much a part of the show, as the show itself.
The Pretty RecklessThe Pretty Reckless – An excellent throwback-hard rock band of sorts fronted by the beautifully talented Taylor Momsen. Powerful vocals mixed with mysterious charisma make for an alluring and irresistible rock package. Sum 41 – I wasn’t expecting to be impressed with these guys, but I definitely was… Punk rock with a shit ton of attitude, energy, and charisma. Crowd was going apeshit over the catchy-as-hell set of songs that the band brought in spades. Bush – Of course Gavin Rossdale is the star, along with the band’s now classic rock hits that are no strangers to rock radio. I expected more of a “show” from Bush, but then again, maybe that’s just Bush. Pierce the Veil – Another band that I didn’t expect to like as much as I did. For such a young bunch of guys (relatively speaking compared to the age of this author… lol), these dudes know how to entertain and bring an infectious combination of hard rocking, emo-laden hooks, and hedonism during their set. In Flames – A crowd favorite, with an impressive back catalog of melodic metal spanning over 20 years from this veteran and pioneering band from Sweden. Godsmack – F*cking Sully always brings it. Big, badass riffs and bass guitar so loud I had to hold the camera a bit tighter than usual. The staple, dual drum solos were a highlight.
SoundgardenSoundgarden – What tragically turned out to be the band’s third to last show… Soundgarden brought their classic sound, and now classic hits to a capacity crowd to close out Saturday night. Chris Cornell was in command as the band moved through an inspired set with the requisite amount of moody ebb and flow that you’ve come to expect from a Soundgarden show. Excellent sound; excellent performance; very sad now to think it was to be the last time I’d get to see Chris doing what he did best…
Northern Invasion Saturday, May 13, 2017
Day 2:
Starset – Opening on Sunday, this was my first time seeing this very entertaining and intriguing band. Admittedly, I was not very familiar with their music, but I became a fan after witnessing their high energy show complete with “space jam” costumes and all the trimmings. These cats can sing and play, like, outta this world… Radkey – This 3 piece band of brothers from St Louis were easily one of my favorites new discoveries during Northern Invasion 2017. I’m not a huge “punk” fan, but these guys brought a brand punk and hard rock that was mixed with enough psychedelic attitude to make believers out of fans of both Motorhead and Cream alike. Sylar – A metal/rap outfit with big attitudes and altitude from NYC. Motionless In White -Chris Motionless and his band delivered an impressive set of theatrical hard rock with great costumes, yet very well crafted songs that kept the audience in the palm of his hand the whole time. Nothing More – Complete with copious amounts of ripped abs along with an audio assault of inventive heavy metal, Jonny Hawkins and crew from San Antonio, TX set themselves apart from the crowded hard rock crowd with the addition of interesting percussion elements into their blistering set. Attila – Metalcore from Atlanta, GA that consumed their die-hards whipping the audience into a frenzy and giving photographers copious amounts of crowd surfing to capture.
Alter BridgeAlter Bridge -Solid and strong, tried and true, yet very modern and melodic hard rock from the veteran band consisting of the great Myles Kennedy on lead vocals. I believe it’s sometimes easy to forget just how huge Creed was back in the day, and that ¾ of Alter Bridge consists of the excellence that is the trifecta of Mark Tremonti on guitar, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips. Opeth – Another act that took me by surprise with their inventive mix of metal and psychedelic prog rock. Hailing from Sweden, the veteran band kept me there and kept me interested throughout their entire set (no easy feat for rock photographer and music journalist needing to make the rounds) with their unique blend of singing, screaming, and musical virtuosity. Fozzy – Chris Jericho and co. opened with their ripping new song “Judas” that rocks hard while hanging their good looks on good hooks to suck you in. Jericho is a very good vocalist and he knows it while literally strutting his stuff onstage and backstage. Papa Roach – Veteran hard rockers bringing their big rock to the big stage. Year after year, Papa Roach brings huge entertainment value to every performance that’s genuine and invested. The crowd was in a frenzy from the first note to the last as Jacoby Shaddix and the guys left everything on the stage, and were arguably the best act of Day 2. Amon Amarth – Lots of Nordic metal from Sweden representing and delivering the goods at Northern Invasion 2017, and Amon Amareth were no exception. If classic Sabbath, Maiden, Megadeth, and Venon-era style head banging complete with a big Viking ship stage set is your bag, then an AA set is for you. Very entertaining that surprisingly mixed a lot of smiling along with the metal. The Offspring – Since it’s been some 25 years or so since we first heard of from The Offspring, one may tend to forget just how many of their songs have infiltrated the culture with their catchy lyrics, hooks, and heavy rock anthems. Dr. Dexter Holland (a recent PhD. graduate) and band performed a tight and entertaining set that included all the requisite classics and charisma that brought them fame and fortune in the first place. Closing out the festival was none other than Kid Rock…
Kid RockKid Rock – Always has been, and still is bigger than life… Kid Rock delivered an eclectic set comprised of old and new material that spanned his impressive 2o year career, mixing full blown rockers with stripped down acoustic numbers. You’re reminded of just how big a star, and cultural icon Kid Rock really is the moment he takes the stage with his excellent band behind him. He blew everyone away, and was a perfect cap to the great weekend of live music at Northern Invasion 2017.
Northern Invasion Sunday, May 14, 2017
**More Images to be added to the Photo Galleries in the coming days**
For more about Northern Invasion >> www.NorthernInvasion.com
Photography & Writing by Tom Leu at www.16IMAGING.com
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