Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, Florida
After tragedy and multiple singers, Drowning Pool seems to have found their fit with front man Jasen Moreno.
The night of hard-hitting rock kicked off with local band, Manna Zen. Singer Hayden Vega jumped off stage and into the crowd to sing and share the 
microphone with fans, adding a level of intimacy to the show and forging a great connection with the crowd right away. Joe Kemplin slapped away intricate riffs on his bass guitar and Kyle Brewer kept time with precision on drums. Guitarists Benjamin Hawkins and Rob Schulte shared fretwork duties for the set by splitting solos in half and even playing some in unison. Schulte kept the energy high onstage by jumping a few feet in the air, kicking, and dancing to the music. Despite a small flub with timing that was quickly saved by Vega, Manna Zen did more than a great job warming up the crowd for the rest of the acts.
Denver, Colorado natives Red Tide Rising were the next band to take the stage. These four guys portrayed quite a different look 
than was anticipated. Clad in all black and red, seemingly to go with the band name, the crowd expected a hardcore metal band. Singer Matt Whiteman delivered a strong voice accompanied by his brother, Andrew Whiteman on lead guitar with riffs reminiscent of Tool and Shinedown and melodic solos. Michael LeBois delivered bass riffs that were accented by the fact there was only him and Andrew Whiteman on guitar. Matt Guerin brought up the rear on the drum kit, hitting the skins with such power it was a surprise they didn’t break during the set.
Five guys from Australia, A Breach Of Silence, provided direct support and utilized the entire stage (though there was very little of it) to jump around and 
get the crowd amped up. This band can be best described as a mixture of Asking Alexandria and Bullet For My Valentine with Sebastian Bach on bass. While that sounds like utter chaos onstage, these boys pulled it off with ease. Bach’s actual name is Blair Layt and his ‘80s hair band look and high pitched scream created great harmonies with singer Rhys Flannery. A mixture of singing and screaming coupled with a constant barrage of double bass drums kicks from Daniel Trickett made for a fast-paced, in-your-face performance by A Breach Of Silence.
Headliners Drowning Pool consisted of a quartet from Dallas, Texas who came to melt faces… once they actually came out. Be it a result of technical difficulties or band issues, Drowning Pool took excessively long to take the stage, making the crowd impatient and diminishing the hard work that A Breach Of Silence did to get the fans excited for the headliner. However, once the band finally took the stage, they made up for the delay. The crowd didn’t miss a beat and opened up the night’s first mosh pit, with drummer Mike Luce commenting on how it was good to see a pit again, but to “be good to each other” in the process. Drowning Pool had an exceptional chemistry onstage, making faces at each other during the show and joking around while playing, much like that of Sevendust live. Bassist Stevie Benton even balanced a cup of beer on his head for the intro to one of the songs.
When guitarist CJ Pierce wasn’t using his pedals for guitar effects while shredding out solos, he was controlling the strobe lights onstage or jumping around to the songs. The whole band was in motion most of the set and it only hyped up the 
crowd more, giving the musicians more fuel. This endless catch-22 of energy made for a great live experience and got the whole Jack Rabbits crowd involved. Singer Jasen Moreno even mentioned during the set that it was “nice to see ladies down in front at a rock show.” By the end of their 16 song setlist, which included mostly songs from their break-through album Sinner in honor of the 13th anniversary remastered re-release, Drowning Pool and the crowd had clearly gotten their share of a rock show for the night as the “Bodies” hit the floor to the music.
More photos from this show can be found here.
Along with a video of “Bodies” here.
