Friday nights at the Diamond Ballroom don’t get much better than this.  Opening bands tonight are Fragmented Tranquility, Left to Die, a Dying Art and Blackthorne Elite. I got late approval for this show so I missed seeing Fragmented Tranquility and Left to Die.  Let’s talk about A Dying Art and Blackthorne Elite.  I believe today is a Dying Art’s release date for their new e.p. titled “Forgotten Ways.” Both bands are from Oklahoma and have a very similar sound geared more towards Hard Rock/Heavy Metal which is perfect for opening a Drowning Pool concert. They seem to be influenced by bands like Lamb of God, Killswitch Engaged, with a touch of Pantera thrown into the mix.  The music was very powerful in-your-face and aggressively thunderous Metal.  The crowd was having a kick-ass time head banging to both bands. Search out the bands on-line and give them a listen.

Drowning Pool is an American Rock band formed in Dallas, Texas in 1996.  The band is comprised of Jasen Moreno on Lead Vocals, C.J. Pierce on guitar/backing vocals, Stevie Benton on Bass/backing vocals, and Mike Luce on Drums/backing vocals.  The metal heads all broke out their favorite hard rock band t-shirts and newer shirts from the merchandise booths that lined the walls and got ready to rage for one of their favorite bands, Drowning Pool. Fans slowly made their way as close to the front of the stage as they could, spending every last second prior to the 10:00pm start time double fisting beers at the bar. When the lights dimmed, the crowd’s voices thundered through the venue, Jasen Moreno and the boys took to the stage and hit us with the song “Sinner” from their 2001 album of the same name. The head banging commenced and the band killed it.  Next the songs “Think” and “Step Up” which both were released in 2004 on the Desensitized album. All the songs flowed together seamlessly and keep you connected to the music and fast paced rhythms that bombarded your senses.

Your attention never left Jasen as he paraded around the stage and connected with the crowd.  Belting out the lyrics from “We are Devil” brought interaction from the audience. A moment of rest and rehydration for the band took place while Jasen spoke. The talking prefaced the next song and how they expected every person in the room to act outrageously to “37 Stitches,” which was followed by “Feel Like I Do” which brought on more crowd participation. The songs keep the crowd head banging with no signs of stopping. Songs like “Sermon”, “Reminded”, “Tear Away” and “Pity” made sure the banging continued. I don’t know how they can do that thru the entire show and then Jasen was able to get every single person in the room to roar at the top of their lungs and Drowning Pool broke straight into “Bodies.” Watching in amazement as the fan favorite filled the massive Diamond Ballroom, and easily the best song performance of the evening took hold of the Ballroom, It was the best possible way for them to end their show, and being able to keep the crowd on a level of 10 was undeniably one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long while. Throughout the night, from beginning to end, Drowning Pool’s live performance was remarkable.

Drowning Pools Setlist:

1. Sinner
2. Think
3. Step Up
4. We are Devil
5. 37 Stitches
6. Feel Like I Do
7. Drop/Hate?
8. Sermon
9. Reminded
10. Tear Away
11. Pity
12. Bodies

Drowning Pool

Venue – Diamond Ballroom, OKC

Reviewed by: storm@backstage360.com