PAM WHISENHUNT | Go Venue Magazine
Pop Evil, Bad Wolves, Sierra Pilot and Oni ignited the crowd Sunday night November 24, 2024, at the Admiral Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska.
The two openers’ Oni and Sierra Pilot, both from Canada, were straight fire kicking things off. Jake Oni (Oni-lead vocals) had an impressive metal core scream balanced with smooth melodic vocals. Oni engaged the crowd both on stage and off, hitting the rail several times during the set. Leigh Kakaty (Pop Evil) acknowledged Oni as a band you will soon be paying big money to see in the near future. Sierra Pilot had a unique, grungy but familiar sound. I couldn’t put my finger on who they reminded me of, but they were putting out some solid hard rock music and kept the energy up.
Bad Wolves took the stage third. The bass levels were a little excessive, at times drowning out the guitar and vocals. I would have liked to hear more of Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz’s (lead vocals) voice. Besides that, Bad Wolves put on a high energy show. DL was uncontained as he worked every inch of the stage, even singing the last song “Zombie” from the middle of the crowd.
Finally, Pop Evil was up. I hate to admit it, but I forgot how amazing Pop Evil was live. The energy they exude and pull from the crowd is unmatched. The first seven songs “Eye of the Storm”, “Trenches”, their newest “Deathwalk”, “Deal with the Devil”, “Paranoid (Crash and Burn)”, another new song “What Remains” and “Work” were heavy and rousing. After the first seven songs, Kakaty took a break and slowed things down. Kakaty talked to the crowd about how different everyone is but told us to focus on the things that make us similar. The people to our left and right all share the same love for this music. These are the people in our city that go to rock shows every night. He reminded us, we all bleed the same color and will, until our day of judgement. As the song goes, we are all skeletons. They kept the tempo slow with “Skeletons” and “Torn to Pieces”.
Kakaty apologized to the crowd, stating he was not expecting “this”. The crowd showed up and was fully vested till the end. Kataty dedicated the next song to all those who made it to the show and didn’t’ drive the speed limit. The band left the stage, leaving Kataty and Nick Fuelling (guitar) to play “100 in a 55”. They engaged the crowd and got them chanting the chorus. The rest of the band reentered the stage and finished the set with “Breathe Again, “Waking Lions” and the encore “Footsteps”.
At the end of the day, Pop Evil’s set is filled with anthemic hits and each of the band member is larger than life. Watching Davey Grahs (guitar) and Joey “Chicago” Wasler (bass) is a show in itself. I could watch them perform for days. I can’t recommend this tour enough for both the lesser known, up-and-coming bands, Oni and Sierra Pilot, as well as the hard rockin’ veterans, Bad Wolves and Pop Evil. It’s money well spent.
Pop Evil
Bad Wolves
Sierra Pilot
Oni
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