Sean and Coleen picked me up after work and we headed down to Lupo’s in Providence to check out Nonpoint, Machine Head and HELLYEAH.

For those of you who don’t know who any of these bands are…Nonpoint has been around since the late 90s and somehow I’ve seen them like six times. They always end up opening for other bands that I like better, like Machine Head. They’ve been around even longer and unlike most veteran metal bands, their latest album, The Blackening, is probably one of if not their best album to date, at least in my opinion. Finally, HELLYEAH is comprised of five members from other pretty successful metal bands: Vinne Paul from Pantera (drums), Chad Grey (vocals) and Greg Tribett (guitar) from Mudvayne, Tom Maxwell from Nothingface (guitar) and Bob Zilla from Damageplan.

Overall, the show was awesome. Haven’t been to a club show in awhile, and haven’t been to Lupo’s since it switched locations and underwent renovations.

Nonpoint opened up, and their new material sounds a bit heavier than the old stuff. You could definitely tell they’re trying to shed their ‘nu-metal’ sound.

Machine Head has done much of the same on their new album, returning to their roots and just cranking out an epic metal album, complete with crazy guitar solos and most songs clocking in at over six minutes long. Rob Flynn has a ton of energy on stage, and really hammed it up with the crowd – at one point making fun of some emo kid in the front with a Bullet for my Valentine shirt and eye makeup on, exclaiming, “we’re not Avenged Sevenfold, we don’t wear eye shadow!”

Flynn also made sure everyone remembered how to headbang, and seemed pleased with everyone’s efforts in the pit. The band mixed in a few older songs with a lot of new material off The Blackening, and sounded really, really good.

HELLYEAH came out to a backdrop of animated fire, and appropriately opened with “Hellyeah,” then “Goddamn.” I know, they’re not the most thought provoking songs on the planet, but as singer Chad Grey explained, they’re all from other bands, and out on the road to crank out some loud music, get drunk and have a good time. No problems with that from me!

It definitely was great to see Vinnie Paul behind the drum kit again. At one point between songs, Vinnie hit a few double kicks while Grey was talking, and it almost felt like they were going to bust right into “Suicide Note Pt. II,” or “The Great Southern Trendkill,” with Dimebag on the stage and everything. They mentioned the late guitarist of Pantera several times throughout the show, and its good to see Vinnie can still hit the road and continue drumming without his longtime bandmate and brother at his side. I don’t think I’d be able to do that if I were in his shoes.

Anyway, fantastic show, had a little something for everyone. Including the obligatory drunk chick that looked like she was going to kiss Sean, but just yelled in his ear asking for a cigarette as she held onto his neck trying not to fall. She’s lucky Coleen is full of patience and very level headed, that’s for sure. This drunk girl later was seen hanging off a railing with her jeans halfway around her butt and one of her friends had to yank her back and sit her down to avoid further embarrassment. There’s always one!!