Godsmack Lights Up San Diego
Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Around the show Dorothy
Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots
Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Around the show Godsmack Godsmack Around the show Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack Godsmack
Godsmack, Stone Temple Pilots, and Dorothy came together for an end of summer concert at Chula Vista’s North Island Amphitheatre. I love this venue for being one of the few that still has free parking and allows tailgating. It is quite a drive if you live in north San Diego, but pack the car and take advantage of carpool lanes when you can. We left extra early, because there was no way I was missing Dorothy opening the show. I somehow misread the doors open time, so we had an hour extra and had enough time for wine in my hatchback. I love being able to hang out in the parking lot like back in the 80s/90s, when going to a show was an all day event, hanging out with friends and meeting new ones.
Dorothy Martin, lead vocalist of Dorothy, is absolutely stunning in every way. She came on stage with a radiating smile wearing a leather tasseled jacket kicking off the night “Down to the Bottom” with her bluesy rock powerhouse voice. They played two songs off their first album ROCKISDEAD released in 2016. For “Medicine Man”, she came out with a gorgeous rainmaker adding to the vibe. We saw Dorothy last year with current bassist Eliot Larengo and Sam “Bam” Kolton (who were both in Budderside) at Welcome to Rockville. Sam is now with Godsmack, so it is fun to see them on the same tour, even if they are not playing in the same band.
Stone Temple Pilots is one of the most iconic bands of the 90s. I was fortunate to see them in 2002 at San Diego Street Scene with original vocalist, Scott Weiland. He had such a distinct voice that when he passed I didn’t think he could be replaced. In 2017, Jeff Gutt officially joined STP and is absolutely amazing. I was surrounded by the younger generation who thought they didn’t know many songs, but they were singing a lot of them! They played a twelve song set, the favorites “Dead and Bloated”, “Plush”, “Wicked Garden”, “Vaseline”, and “Interstate Love Song”. I loved seeing the 20 somethings' faces light up when they knew another song and started singing. They closed out their set with “Sex Type Thing”
Godsmack scared us last year when they announced after eight albums, many number ones, and three Grammy nominations, that they were retiring from the studio to do things the members have wanted to do for a long time. Much respect to them for creating amazing music and making that decision to do other things, and thankfully still touring. Shannon Larkin (drummer 2002-2024) and Tony Rombola (lead guitarist 1996-2025) retired from Godsmack leaving original members Sully Erna ( lead vocalist/guitar) and bassist Robbie Merrill, adding new members guitarist Sam ‘Bam” Kolton (Dorothy, Faster Pussycat, Budderside) and drummer Mike Mangini (Dream Theater and Extreme) on this tour.
Godsmack is one of my favorite bands for a couple reasons, there is not a bad song on any of their albums and they play raw. Sully Erna says yes there may be flaws during a live show, but there’s no back tracks, no clicks, just the band playing their instruments. They played a 15 song set taking us on the Godsmack journey from start to present time with at least one song from (almost) every studio album.
I love Sully story time. Before performing "Under Your Scars", he gave tribute to those that have passed on, saying we’re going to create an energy to send up to them (Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington, Ronnie James Dio, Eddie Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, and more) that we are still waving the rock n roll flag down here. He asked for production to be turned off, just us and the music, absolutely beautiful. The energy that Sully puts out there is so genuine and gives hope for a better future. I always walk away from a Godsmack show feeling a little lighter, inspired to keep pushing through, and remembering to never take time for granted.
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