City RockFest 2017...A Brief Review

Attended City RockFest 2017 in Cheyenne, WY on Friday night, and it was an amazing show despite a rough start.

We arrived early because we had purchased VIP tickets for our 9 year old, Jaydon, for Christmas. We hadn't been in the venue for 15 minutes when our 5 year old, Jaxon, got sick, which led to my wife and son returning to the hotel...which was a total bummer.

Jaydon and I got to take part in a VIP Q&A session with the bands, which was cool. Then we got the chance to go through all the merch before the rest of the crowd was let in. We snapped up some shirts and other trinkets, including stuff for Jaxon, then Jaydon decided that he and I should sponsor a Third World child, which is a BIG ministry for Seventh Day Slumber. I was proud of him for thinking beyond his nine year old self! For sponsoring, we were given a drawstring backpack filled with a limited edition shirt, 2 limited edition posters, a 7DS poster and cd, a Disciple cd, and a bracelet, which was extremely cool.

The show started off with Scarlet White, who I thought did a really good job despite having some sound issues...a dead cordless mic...to start their 6 song set. Lots of energy, some pretty hard breakdowns, and really good crowd interaction from a band that I think flies too far under the modern rock radar. Very personable people to talk to after their set, as well.

Random Hero was up next and was probably Jaydon's favorite outside of Disciple. Very high energy and very animated, especially their bass player who wore steam punk goggles and used a lot of robotic movements to enhance his performance. Musically, RH isn't a long way off of old-school Korn in their use of bottom heavy, down-tuned guitars and brutal breakdowns, but their singer has very little in common with Jonathan Davis. Last night was also their release party for their brand new CD, "The Covering", which we snapped up as soon as the show ended. Loved this set and I think these guys from Denver have a bright future. I know several of their songs, but am not as familiar with their song titles, but I know "Mirror Mirror" from the new record was included in their set.

Seventh Day Slumber was up next, but it was rough going for the guys as Joe Rojas, their lead singer, was seriously under the weather with chest congestion and a largely compromised voice, which really limited his singing. They still managed an 8 or 9 song set, with "Goodbye", Wasted Life", "We Are The Broken", "Bring It On", and a couple of their praise songs included. For the last song, bass player, Ken Reed handled all the lead vocals, but I'm not sure if this was planned or not. Musically, the band was solid and Rojas soldiered on, and also came out after the show to sign autographs and meet fans.

Project 86 came next and flat out, they can still bring it BIG TIME! Andrew from Disciple pulled double duty as he played guitar for Project 86 tonight (and for the tour, I have heard), but he didn't miss a note. Of course, it's Schwab who dominates the bands sound and appearance as his hardcore shouts, barks, and screams. The band was raging throughout a set that included "Sots", "Sincerely, Ichabod", "The Spy Hunter", a cover of the Beastie Boys "Sabotage", "Me Against Me", and the huge shout-along, "Fall, Goliath, Fall", which Jaydon nearly lost his voice on. I wished "One Armed Man (Play On)" had been included, but I have no real complaints and was thrilled to get to hear the band live.

Disciple closed out the night in typical Disciple fashion, with huge energy, a lot of crowd interaction, a touching, emotional altar call from Kevin, and so many sing-along hits packed into an hour that Jaydon was practically sitting on the floor, exhausted, by the end of the night. "Long Live The Rebels", "God Is With Us", "Scars Remain" "Secret Weapon", "Radical", "O God Save Us All", " "Erase", "First Love", "Remedy", "Dead Militia", and of course, "Dear X" were all included in the nights setlist that I believe included 12 total songs...I didn't write them down, but I think I'm missing one.

On a final note, as my son and I were trying to figure out how we were going to get back to the hotel after the show, I ran into a guy at the show that had I wrestled against in high school (!), hadn't seen in at least 4 years, and who just happened to live in Cheyenne! We chatted for a bit during the breaks between the Scarlet White and Random Hero sets, then I asked about taxis or Uber drivers in town, when he was like, "Why would you do that? I'll take you home!" Needless to say, this was a huge load off of my mind and just another bit of proof of how the Lord works, I'd say.

Great show...great night, minus the sick child. (He's was great the next day, by the way). Go see City RockFest if you get the chance.

Arttie

I love P86, always a great show and I wonder why they aren't bigger? Not a huge fan of modern Disciple but would still go see them as their live show is fun to see. Sounds like a good time.