HellYeah kick off Vinnie Paul celebration tour in Greenville SC

Chad Gray of Mudvayne Hell Yeah at The Firmament in Greenville South Carolina

By: Michael Bragg (Photo Gallery & Review) of MJBragg Photography

Greenville, SC (November 13th, 2019) – Walking into The Firmament this evening I have to admit that I only truly knew about Nonpoint having been a long time fan of the group. The opening act, Deepfall, I had never heard of prior to the show and headliners HellYeah I really only knew the radio singles other than knowing of the late Vinnie Paul of Pantera fame and frontman Chad Gray who used to provide vocals for a favorite band of mine called Mudvayne. That being said I welcomed the introduction of something new to me and was pleasantly surprised. Kicking things off tonight with the first show for the second leg of the “A Celebration of The Life of Vinnie Paul” tour the one thing that did not come as a surprise was the amount of energy that filled the room in excitement and remembrance of a true musical icon.

Coming from Greenville, MI to Greenville, SC Deepfall took to the stage and wasted no time proving why they are a part of this tour. A band full of dynamics and instant attention grabbing stage antics the 6 piece held the crowd in their hands throughout their set. Supporting their recent October 18th, 2019 album release their set was filled with songs showcasing what “Broken” contains. From the intense, resonating vocals of Rich Hopkins to the dual guitar work of Max Carrillo and Anthony Battista Deepfall provided hard hitting yet melodic songs for the crowd to pump their fist to. Giving the foundation to the groups rhythms were Nick Gray on drums and Taylor Brandt on bass. A nice touch to the band was having Tim King on keys providing some nice layered elements to Deepfall’s sound. Definitely a band worth seeing who did a superior job opening the show setting the bar high.

Taking a break from their recent “Red Tape” tour to join the memorial celebration Nonpoint followed up keeping the energy going. Kicking things off with “Breaking Skin” the band gave long time fans, like myself, exactly what we’ve come to expect…an in your face rock show. With dreads flying around, airborne guitarist, thundering pounding of the drums and the low down and dirty bass lines Nonpoint prove time after time their relativity to the rock scene. Formed in 1997 this band has continuously puts out great music such as “What A Day” and “Bullet With A Name On It” that keep fans coming back for more. A nice surprise for the evening was getting to see brand new member Jason Zeilstra play his first show along with Elias Soriano, Robb Rivera, Adam Woloszyn and Rasheed Thomas. Before ending their set frontman Elias spoke about the current world we live in where people are arguing all the time and not respecting others and how disheartening that is as he asked “Does anyone really wanna Fix This.” Concluding their performance the band joined the fans taking pics and signing autographs while staff prepared the stage tonight’s headliner.

As the lights lowered across the stage and faint silhouettes could be seen taking their places fans roared with excitement. Then instantly the lights flashed on and the fire red, dreaded hair of frontman Chad Gray was right in my face bursting out with a loud scream. Joined by fellow members Kyle Sanders (Bass), Tom Maxwell (Guitar) and Christian Brady (Guitar) the band known as HellYeah were like bulls in a china shop thrashing back and forth as their stage antics matched the intensity of their music. Joining the band on drums for the tour is Stonesour drummer Roy Mayorga who is filling the spot of the bands legendary drummer Vinnie Paul who passed in June of 2018. Filling their set with fan favorites such as “Moth,” and “Love Falls” the band kept the energy high throughout their show. Chad Gray taking moments to say how much it meant to have the support of loyal fans of the metal family as he joined the crowd for nearly the entirety of the show. Balancing on the guard rail at front of the stage Chad worked the security staff more than any band I’ve ever seen as he would lunge into the room of fans who had him crowd surfing most of the night and at times literally standing in the palms of hands as he was raised up. Members on stage held back nothing as well with the hair flying and jumping around.

Explaining how the group had written a song (Sky and Water) in memoriam of their late band member and friend the members excited the stage as a pre-recorded version of the song played while images of Vinnie Paul played on the screens that lined the stage. As the video ended the band burst back onto the stage playing “I’m Broken” and “Walk” from Vinnie’s former band Pantera.

As the show neared it’s end the group broke into “Waging War” as Chad explained it was the first song the band had written together and hadn’t been played live in nearly 10yrs before closing out with the self titled tune “HellYeah.”

The second leg of this celebration tour continues through December 19th, 2019 where they end in Phoenix, AZ.

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Copyright – Michael Bragg/MJBragg Photography

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