Seether and Skillet Bring the Heat to The Armory

After my ultra trading block ended, I found myself more willing to get out of my training routine of 4am wake up calls and more into evenings spent in some of my favorite venues around the cities. Less than 48 hours after Sofi Tukker, it was already time for another show in downtown Minneapolis, this time leaning a little more into the rock genre. The co-headlining tour of Seether and Skillet was coming to a close in Minneapolis at The Armory, with fans continuing to pour in early to catch the entire show. This would mark my first time seeing all of the acts on the lineup, and I was excited to see how each one performed live.

First up for the night was a relative newcomer, Royale Lynn. With a country twang in her voice paired with some raw power, Royale Lynn truly brought her experience of being a country metalhead to life on stage. Even though her music wasn’t resonating with me, I was clearly an outlier, as the majority of the crowd was busy getting into her music, especially her sonically heavier tracks. Halfway through her set, Royale Lynn even included a cover of Flyleaf’s hit “All Around Me.” Corey from Seether even came out to play with Royale Lynn during “Six Feet Deep,” the track that set her on her upward trajectory.

After Royale Lynn departed the stage , it wasn’t long before Tim Montana was up. Going in blind to as set is a favorite pastime of mine, and tonight was no different with Tim Montana. Tim and the band got things started with a bang, coming out swinging with hard hitting drums, heavy rhythm guitar, and guitar solos. Part of the way through his set, Tim Montana mentioned this being the last night of the tour, and promised that tour pranks and antics were coming to the crowd. It seems this included special guest Royale Lynn, who came back out on stage to help out with vocals during one of their songs, in a costume.  Tim Montana powered through his short but sweet set with ease, playing to an ever growing crowd.

The penultimate band of the night was rock veterans Seether. The first of the co-headliners to take the stage, Seether wasted no time and got straight to business once the lights dimmed and the first notes of “Gasoline” rang through The Armory. Seether also brought out a special guest for their set, and for the third time of the evening, Royale Lynn graves the stage to provide vocals on Seether’s hit “Broken.” While I am personally not super familiar with Seether’s discography, again I was the outlier in the crowd; from the moment that Seether took the stage, the crowd was moving and head banging along to each and every song. For the songs that I did know (“Remedy” and “Fine Again”), Seether sure sounded great and buttoned up, as they effortless brought the rock to the crowd. I had a feeling their set would be on the shorter side and their roughly sixty minutes were up in a flash.

Last but not least for the night was another veteran outfit: Skillet. What I know about this band is mostly hearsay from other photographers, about how fun it is to shoot them when they come in town. What I can definitively say is those photographers were not wrong, and Skillet absolutely brought the energy to their live show.  Not only did the band have insane stage presence, but their production made their set feel like an arena headliner. It didn’t take much effort from Skillet to get the crowd hyped; all it took was for the band to hit the stage and the crowd was completely into it. I can’t deny Skillet has charisma and knows how to work a both stage and the crowd; the band was truly fun to watch.