I saw Black Stone Cherry with opening act Caleb Johnson at The Intersection in Grand Rapids Michigan last night. For those of you who are not familiar with BSC, they are a relatively young southern rock band that plays modern heavy Southern rock in the tradition of Skynyrd, Hatchett, Outlaws, etc. I first discovered these guys through Classic Rock magazine. They seem to be much bigger in Europe than here in their home country. This show was in a 1000 capacity club, and I would say it was maybe half full. We got there a bit late and just caught the end of Caleb Johnson’s set. I had not heard of him prior to doing a bit of research just before the show on YouTube, but apparently he won American Idol in 2013. Since then he has split with the Idol record company and gone independent. I have to admit the guy had an incredible set of pipes and seemed to be a good front man. He is a little on the portly side with long hair, and actually reminded me a bit of Meatloaf in his younger days (and I mean that as a compliment). I think the guy has a bright future. After an intermission Black Stone Cherry came on stage bounding with energy. 2nd guitarist Ben Wells was literally bouncing and running all over the stage the whole show, and drummer John Fred Young reminded me a bit of Mike Portnoy in his energy. More than once a tech had to come out and re attach parts of his drum kit as Young was pounding the hell out of it. Lead guitarist and vocalist Chris Robertson was spot on all night. His voice was in great shape and he also pulled off several kick ass guitar solos. There was a lot of duel guitar interplay between Wells and Robertson with bassist John Lawon providing the anchor. BSC played tracks from all 5 of their studio album as well as a couple of covers. Towards the end of the set they brought Caleb Johnson back out to sing a killer version of The Marshal Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See” which brought the house down. Other crowd favorites include the sing-alongs “Me And Mary Jane” and “Blame It On The Boom Boom”. A mid show acoustic set was a nice interlude and showed another side to the band. All in all it was a great night of heavy southern rock. I can’t imagine people who like classic southern rock would not totally dig these guys. I am not sure if this is totally accurate, but this was generally the set list:

DEVIL’S QUEEN
SOUL MACHINE
BAD TO THE BONE (GEORGE THORORGOOD COVER)
SOULCREEK
DARKEST SECRET
RAINMAKER
KILLING FLOOR
WHITE TRASH MILLIONAIRE
CHEAPER TO DRINK ALONE
THINGS MY FATHER SAID
ME AND MARY JANE
BUILT FOR COMFORT
IN MY BLOOD
BLIND MAN
DRUM SOLO
THE RAMBLER (ACOUSTIC)
STAY (ACOUSTIC)
CAN’T YOU SEE (CALEB JOHSNSON VOCALS / MARSHAL TUCKER COVER)
SHAKIN MY CAGE
BLAME IT ON THE BOOM BOOM
LONELY TRAIN / VOODOO CHILE (HENDRIX COVER)