Concert Review: Static-X with A Killer's Confession, Dope and Gwar at Archer Hall in Allentown, PA

Allentown's downtown revitalization is alive and well the addition of Archer Music Hall. The area has had a massive concert void since the loss of the iconic Croc Rock. Static-X along with A Killer's Confession, Dope and Gwar filled the venue excitement, anticipation, mayhem and fake blood.

Being a new venue I didn't anticipate the massive line get into the venue and missed the first few songs of A Killer's Confession but I made it in enough time to snap a few photos and hear their message. The band is led by ex Mushroomhead vocalist Waylon Revis whom commanded the stage and the audience with his vocals and general larger than life presence.

The band squeezed in 7 songs including a cover of Mushroomhead's "Qwerty" in just 30 minutes. Waylon closed out the show with his message of "save a kid, kill a pedophile", which was also printed on their merch. The band did an amazing job of warming up the wall to wall crowd.

Next up was Dope. Led by Edsel Dope since the bands inception in 1997. Current touring members of the band are Daniel Fox on bass, Nikk Dibs on guitar and Chrissy Warner on drums. They also played a power packed 30 minute set that caused an erruption of moshing, crowd surfing and a lot of middle fingers in the air. Edsel took a minute to talk to the crowd about being older and having to find baby sitters to come out to the show. Edsel is definately in his comfy era wearing slides out on stage to perform metal. It was classic.

Gwar was up next, the most veteran band of the night. Complete with their medieval, mythical warrior costumes. They came to battle each other, the fans, Donald Trump and Taylor Swift. The venue floor was covered in absorbant pads anticipating the river of fake blood. The fans in the front row were wearing white shirts in anticipation of being covered, to wear them like a badge of honor having survived the battle. Myself and the security staff entered the pit ready for our own battle wearing ponchos and my camera was in a ziplock bag.

Gwar battled it out for 45 minutes opening with "Fuck This Place", squirting the audience with blood from the first decapitated battle victim. The blood subsided for "Metal Metal Land" then came back with avengence for "El Presidente" in which a very rotund Donald Trump was portrayed. This is when the front row and crowd surfers got drenched. It looked like a horror scene with a twist since everyone had a smile on their face.

Gwar is a band that everyone must experience at least once in their life.

Static-X is a band that i never thought I would see live after the untimely passing of Wayne Static. He was an absolute ground-breaking icon that could never be replaced. Finding some one to remotely do him justice and fill his hair on stage was no easy task. Xer0 (Edsel Dope) showed up and is keeping his memory alive and well. Currently touring are all other orginal members of the band. Tony Campos on bass, Koichi Fukuda on guitar and Ken Jay on drums. Having the original musician base in the band really has helped keep the sound and feeling of Static-X. It doesn't feel like a cover band with a new vocalist as many bands often do.

Static-X performed 16 bass fueled, heart-stopping songs, including "Break It", "Love Dump", "Black and White", "I Am", "Cold" and ending the night with their most well known song "Push It". The fans went hard from beginning to end. There was an endless sea of crowd surfers, metal horns all the way to the doors and an entire pit for "Push It".

Static-X will remain a force for years to come. There is a lot of life in this band and their fans are loyal and ravenous for their shows. It was an amazing night and if you're in the Allentown, PA area check a show out at Archer Music Hall, it's a kick ass venue.