Pop Evil returned to Oklahoma City and the historic Diamond Ballroom this past Saturday. After several opening acts, including comedian Don Jamieson, they hit the stage a bit after 10:00 to a crowd ready to rock.
While Jamieson was funny and did a good job, the crowd was clearly there for the headliner. The stage was dark and filled with fog, making it hard to see the band much like a Seether show. They began things with some lesser-known tunes like “Boss’s Daughter,” co-written with Mick Mars, “Color’s Bleed,” and “Ex Machina” from the latest release, Pop Evil. The crowd really got going when “Deal with the Devil” began though. The hard-driving “Deal” was combined with Drowning Pool’s Bodies and was a real crowd-pleaser.
The band slowed things down a bit with the popular “Torn to Pieces” before ramping it back up with “Eye of the Tiger/Last Man Standing. They followed with a partial rendition of Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way.” Next came “Ways to Get High” and “Be Legendary” from the newest release. The guitar riffs and bass line sounded solid with drummer Haley Kramer, one of a handful of top female drummers, doing a great job as well and singer Leigh Kikaty’s vocals on “Be Legendary” sounded surprisingly much stronger than on some of the older material. Next, Kikaty reminisced that the band began as a cover band back in the early days but didn’t do full covers anymore. 2019 marks 11 years since the band got their record deal and covers became fewer and fewer as the years went on and success became more prevalent.
Continuing the entertaining fan interaction, he continued by then asking the crowd’s permission to do a full cover, remarking that if the crowd didn’t like it, they’d do something different. This introduced Live’s “I Alone” and had the crowd singing along in unison. This was followed by “When We Were Young” and “A Crime to Remember.” Next came “Footsteps” and this time Kikady pulled a very young fan from the heaving pit of sweating bodies to help sing the chorus. While quite young, the kid knew all the words perfectly and was a crowd hit.
The band finished the main set with a rousing “Take it All” before leaving the stage for a short break. The encore began with “100 in a 55,” and was followed by “Waking Lions.” Both were very well received but the final song of the night, “Trenches” closed the show on a real high note.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Claire Zevnik
