Concert Review: Godsmack Brought Their "The Rise of Rock" World Tour with Dorothy and Stone Temple Pilots to the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lake View - Syracuse NY

Mark Kurtzner
11 hours ago
4 min read

On Tuesday June 30th Godsmack brought their "The Rise of Rock" World Tour to the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lake View - Syracuse NY.

Supporting Godsmack on this hot and steamy night were the Stone Temple Pilots & Dorothy. This tour has been spread out over several months: first, a 14-date run from May 7th to May 30th mostly through the southern states, this was followed by a 13-date run from June 12th to July 3rd in the central & eastern parts. The tour then heads to Europe for 12 festival dates from July 23rd to August 16th before returning to the West Coast from September 4th through the 26th. Most nights feature all three bands but select nights feature only Godsmack & Dorothy.

The Empower FCU Amphitheater sits on the middle southern shore of Onondaga Lake, offering a nice background with a cooling breeze. Sunsets are supposed to be stunning, but this night wasn't anything special, unfortunately, as I love seeing a cool, colorful sunset. The venue has a capacity of 17,500. For tonight's show, the inside covered sections were sold out, and the lawn section only had a few tickets remaining. It's a great venue to see a show; the setup is perfect for everyone. The only drawback is the length of the walk to get inside; plus, on this night the humidity was near 100%, and I was basically drenched in the photo pit and even while watching from my seat.

Up first was Dorothy a four-piece band formed in 2014 that has released 4 full-length albums and several singles. For this tour they are supporting their 2025 release "The Way." Featuring vocalist Dorothy Martin, guitarist Nick Perri, bassist Eliot Lorango and drummer Jake Hayden. This was my first time seeing them live. I was very impressed; they played a highly energetic 35-minute set that got the crowd going. Besides having a powerful voice, she has a great vibe and is a great front person, the rest of the band is clearly enjoying this tour and their time on stage!

I really enjoyed their set, they were a great opening act to get the evening kicked off. Their set highlights for me were: "Down to the Bottom," "The Devil I Know," "Rest in Peace," "Medicine Man," and "Elevate," which happens to be Dorothy's favorite new song. All of their songs are quick and catchy and pretty powerful live too. I'd expect a bright future for this act!

Up next were Stone Temple Pilots. I first saw them in 1993 when they were supporting Megadeth, shortly afterward, they were headlining tours, playing to large audiences and gaining much deserved praise and recognition. They recorded 6 full-length studio albums that led to many big hits during their long and storied career... Formed in 1989 with brothers Dean DeLeo (Guitar), Robert DeLeo (Bass), Eric Kretz (Drums) and vocalist Scott Weiland (who passed away in 2015), they had a slew of hit singles and were one of the top Alternative Rock/Grunge bands during those years.

Since Weiland's passing, the remaining members brought in vocalist Jeff Gutt, joining the band in November of 2017. Previously, he was with "Dry Cell" and a few other bands, but his biggest achievement was finishing as the runner-up on season three of the TV series The X Factor. The band made a wise decision bringing him in; he's a perfect fit and replacement for Weiland. Their set was filled with the band's biggest hits opening with fan favorite "Dead & Bloated" into "Wicked Garden," Vasoline... the big hits just kept coming. The song the "Big Empty" was dedicated to Weiland. Afterward, they closed out the 12-song set with "Plush", "Interstate Love Song", "Crackerman", "Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart" ending with the band's first hit "Sex Type Thing". They played a great set, and I know all of the fans enjoyed them, they were really good!

Finally, the headliner Godsmack took the stage celebrating 30 years as a band that has released 9 studio albums and a slew of hit songs. Joining singer, guitarist, drummer, and pianist Sully Erna are original member Robbie Merrill on bass along with two newer members: Sam Koltun on guitar and Mike Mangini on drums, who is a beast of a player!. Last year long time members Shannon Larkin (drums) & Tony Rombola (guitar) decided to retire without any hard feelings, Sully acknowledged there was no animosity and wished them the best.

Godsmack sounded absolutely great, opening with "When Legends Rise", into "You & I" and "Cryin' like a Bitch". Up next was a powerful version of "Straight Out of Line," followed by "Awake" and "Surrender," which is one of my favorites. Onto the meat of the set: "Keep Away," "Love-Hate-Sex-Pain," still my favorite "Voodoo," and "Batalla de los Tambores." This dueling drum solo is just genius; they've successfully turned a standard drum solo into something even more - I absolutely love it! Up next was another great one, "Whatever," to close out the main set.

Of course they came back for three encores. "Under Your Scars"—what an amazing song and powerful message! It's really great that Sully created the Scars Foundation, I have no doubt that it's saved thousands of lives. Closing out this amazing evening and show was "Bulletproof" and "I Stand Alone". The second leg of the US tour is almost finished, but European and West Coast fans are in for a treat seeing such a powerful band! If you've never seen Godsmack, make it a point to go if you can!