Adelita’s Way /Saliva/Drowning Pool
Cleveland House of Blues
September 27, 2023
By Andrew Latshaw
As I sit here, preparing to write a review of the Drowning Pool show at the Cleveland House of Blues, I must preface this review with a simple thought… I could not be happier to see these bands from my youth hitting the road and playing the music that was the anthems for my friends and I when we were kids!
The opener for the show was Any Given Sin, and while I admit, I had never seen these guys before. They were a solid sound for sure. They had a look that was like nu-metal mixed with some mid 70’s Rockers!
Adelita’s Way came out and while Any Given Sin had the crowd already stirring, Adelita’s way really seemed to tap into the pulse of the crowd! Adelita’s Way opened up with “What it Takes” which was one of their newer songs, and then “Still Hungry”. The rest of their set was a mix of the old and the new. I have to say that while these guys have been around since 2006, the new music that they have released has evolved with the years, while staying true to their earliest of days.
Saliva hit the stage next, with the front of the kick drum had an image of Swinny, and a couple of times during the set Bobby Amaru made sure to pay homage to Wayne Swinny. Bobby said early in the set, pointing to the kick drum, how much the band and the fans missed him. Swinny who passed away this March due to brain hemorrhage while touring, he was 59 at the time of his passing and his presence at this show was noticed and sorely missed!
Saliva came out, opening their set with “Come Back Stronger” followed by “Ladies and Gentlemen”. As I was photographing the band, I could not help but notice the age range of the crowd! There was a little girl at the edge of the photo pit, her name was Anna, and she was 5yrs old. She would later be brought up on stage and another kid by the name of Austin would be up there to help sing the chorus of “Click, Click, Boom!”
The energy that Bobby and Sammi Jo brought to the House of Blues was infectious! As the band played on, the audience was jumping, clapping, and singing with the songs of the evening. As I sit here, recounting the evening, as awesome as it was, I cannot get over how awesome it was to see Bobby point to the kids in the audience and had them come to the stage and sing along.
Bobby addressing the crowd about how it was inspirational it was to see the ages of the people in the audience. This is when he pointed to Austin in the front row, and asked: “You wanna get up on stage?” I am not sure who was more excited, Austin or his mom! Next, he pointed to Anna at the end of the pit, and asked her mom if she was allowed to get up on stage.
Once Anna and Austin got on to the stage, Bobby asked Anna if she wanted to be the star of the show, he held her hand and helped her get up onto the platform. She stood there throwing up her horns with her little fingers! Bobby told these two about the chorus, and when he put the mic in front of them, they screamed out: “CLICK, CLICK, BOOM!” Absolutely the most adorable thing I have seen all year!
It was time for Drowning Pool, and they did not hold back! Ryan McCombs, the vocalist who recently came back to the band after 12yrs away, he came out started the set with “Sinner”. The House of Blues has a concrete floor, and you felt the ground bouncing!
After Sinner, the next song in the set list was “Let the Sin Begin” and C.J. Pierce was on Stage right shredding the sounds on his guitar! I had a helluva time watching his antics, and facial expressions! C.J. was comical, and borderline cartoonish to watch! I even lost track of the other members while trying to capture some of his movements and expressions.
About half way through 37 Stitches, something blew… the stage went dark, and the instruments stopped producing sounds. After several minutes of no change, Ryan set his microphone down, and came into the photo pit to lean against the crowd. He started engaging the audience and making fun of C.J. being bald and laughing at the situation. As he stood at the barrier of the photo pit. He was taking selfies with the crowd and asked the crowd if they knew any good jokes! The one joke that a guy yelled was not that entertaining at the time, but during the editing, I could not stop laughing!
The guy asked Ryan: What is the difference between pink and purple? Ryan chucked, and said I have no idea, what? The guy replied: the strength of your grip!
There are several pics which were pink and purple… I could not stop hearing that joke! After about a 20 minute breakdown, the issue was resolved and they were able to finish 37 Stitches. I was surprised to hear them go into Rebel Yell, the Billy Idol cover. I preferred their rendition, hands down.
It was almost midnight, and Ryan said that they had one last song for the night… he thanked us all for hanging out through the issues and knowing that we had to work in the morning made our determination all the more rewarding for them. He said that they were finishing off their set with “BODIES”! I was ecstatic I sang along with them to every word, and was severely hoarse for the drive home!
The last time I had seen Drowning Pool was at Ozzfest in 2002, later that year is when Dave Williams passed due to heart failure which had never been diagnosed until the time of his death.
Adelita’s Way Website | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Instagram |
Saliva Website | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Instagram |
Drowning Pool Website | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Instagram |
