Underground Reviews
P.O.D – Melbourne (April 17th) review
Band: P.O.D
Date: February 17th 2018
Venue: 170 Russell Street, Melbourne
Photos: Anna Tepper
Review: Ned Tepper
It’s hard to believe it’s been over seventeen years since P.O.D released their award winning album “Satelite”, the album that would go on to sell over seven million copies worldwide and staple it as the bands most successful album to date. Even harder to believe it’s almost been the same amount of time since the San Diego alternative metal group have played their own headlining show here in Australia!
The older you get the faster time seems to go and for me the less you seem to remember (haha) I do however distinctly remember February 20th 2001 when P.O.D ripped the Corner Hotel in Richmond apart. The energy these guys brought was something else, fast forward to April 2018 and I would finally get to see this great band live once again.
A recent trend in tours has seen bands playing their first or biggest album in their entirety, something that not all bands could pull off. Simply because finding an album that is full of solid tracks and not just a few good ones with a lot of filler is rare these days!
Ill Nino pulled it off with their amazing record Revolution Revolucion, Max and Igor Cavalera put on a great performance with Sepultura’s “Roots” album and Fear Factory ‘s 20-year anniversary of “Demanufacture” is up there with one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.
P.O.D’s “Satellite” is the perfect album to put on such a show with every song solid and four legit singles in “Alive”, “Boom”, “Youth of the Nation” and the title track “Satellite”. Sitting in the crowd 5 minutes before the show I chuckled as I heard some kids making bets on whether or not they’d open up with “Set it Off” or not. A pretty safe bet I would have thought but it didn’t stop the one guy that said they would be celebrating as the band took the stage and started to play the opening track!
There’s nothing like a great throwback show like this and although I love their new music it was great to feel like it was 2001 again, even if it was just for a couple of hours. Leaving the show my wife said to me “That was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen” simply because of the crowd interaction, quality of sound and the fact you could tell Sonny and the boys really seemed to be having a great time.
Sonny talked with the audience throughout and had us all join in with one metal head singing the chorus to “Youth of the Nation” in a “Cookie Monster” voice as guitarist Marcos Curiel joked. On a side note it would seem those who purchased VIP really got their money’s worth as Sonny brought up a few stories that happened earlier in the night (at the VIP) during the show. Once the Satellite album wrapped up the show continued with more surprises, including a guest guitarist (a fan they met in NZ) joining them on stage to perform Southtown and I must say this guy was good, you couldn’t tell the difference.
Sonny would perform in the crowd during “Southtown” making for an amazing moment and definite highlight of the show (Despite it not featuring on the Satellite album). By the time the night had finished we left wanting more, there was no slowing down, lack of intensity or boredom. It was straight energy from the start of the show to the finish including a circle pit and Sonny crowd surfing multiple times. This is by far the best show I’ve seen in years and if you get a chance do yourself a favour and check out one of the shows on remaining dates:
Friday – SYDNEY, The Factory Theatre
Saturday – BRISBANE, Eatons Hill Hotel
Sunday – GOLD COAST, Coolangatta Hotel
Get your tickets here:
https://metropolistouring.com/pod/
I was lucky enough to chat with Sonny earlier in the year, listen in here:
The only problem with the show? I now have to somehow get my great new hat back off P.O.D’s number one fan Mahlie Tepper who was very upset it wasn’t an all ages show!
