First of all, let me review the 2 opening bands: Manic Drive and Flight Patterns.
Manic Drive used to be a rock band that I really liked. They have added a lot of keyboard tracks and added a dance kind of feel to even the older songs. They just plain suck now, and the crowd did not respond well. Unless Manic Drive seriously head back to the rock territory, I won't buy anymore music from them.
Flight Patterns, the band of Michael Sweet Jr., was on next. They are a pop-punk band similar to Stellar Kart or Reliant K. If you like those two bands, just buy their CDs. You will hear nothing new from Flight Patterns. They were just bland, and the audience did not seem to care. For me, those were the 6 longest songs I have ever had to endure. Why in the world Stryper will not hire better opening bands beats the heck out of me! They could have taken Saint or Guardian or a number of other bands on tour with them, but they bring us crap!
Anyway, I wasn't there for the opening acts--I was there for Stryper. The boys finally hit the stage at 9 PM and played for about 1 1/2 hours. They played a lot of songs from "Murder By Pride" and the crowd loved the tunes. They played some from every album except for "Against The Law". They even did one song from "Reborn".
Here's the songs I can definitely remember:
Loud N' Clear
Winter Wonderland
Soldiers Under Command
The Rock That Makes Me Roll
Reach Out
To Hell With The Devil
Calling On You
Free
Honestly
The Way
Rockin' The World
More Than A Man
The Reign
Open Your Eyes
Eclipse For The Son
4 Leaf Clover
Piece Of Mind
Alive
Murder By Pride
My Love I'll Always Show
Tim was on bass and sounded as good as ever on both the old and new songs. I like Tracy, but Tim just has a different energy on stage. He was definitely excited to be playing in Nashville!. Oz seems to be singing more, and his voice is probably stronger than Michael's these days. Both Michael's and Oz's solos were tight and ripping! Robert was....well, Robert! The Visual Timekeeper was up to his usual antics and having the most fun of anyone on stage! But, he always seems to be! Michael did not go for many of the screams, and the ones he did do seemed to be pre-recorded. There were even some times where he would just stop singing in the middle of a verse and run off to the side of the stage. I'm wondering if his throat is giving him trouble.
But, regardless of some vocal flaws, Stryper on their worst day is still better than many bands on their best. It was cool to see the Yellow n' Black Attack back in action!
Oh, and on a side note, I got to meet Troy Thompson of Bride there. He had driven down from Louisville to see the show!
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"DEJA MOO--The feeling that you've heard this bull before!"