Story & Photographs by Diane Fleischman

The Wind Creek Event Center was packed full of metal music fans Saturday night. On the ticket, four bands to delight any metal music fan. The bands were Royale Lynn, Tim Montana, Seether, and Skillet. It was surprising to see such an array of ages of the fans, ranging from six years old to 60.

Royale Lynn hit the stage first, she ran and bopped out to center stage with plenty of high energy. As one of today’s emerging artists, Royale has certainly carved out her own niche of music. As she calls, “Punktry”, a punk attitude mixed with country roots. She included in her set “Sacrifice”, “Death Wish” and “Six Feet Deep”.

Fortunately, there were intermission breaks in between bands to give fans a chance to restore their energy levels as the stage crews set up for the next act. A little later on Royale Lynn held a meet and greet in the lobby, fans lined up to meet Royale, get an autograph, and a selfie. It was definitely a magical moment for those pre-teen fans, who carried an ear-to-ear smile, for some meeting their first musical artist in person.

Meanwhile back on stage, Tim Montana and the band pounded and tore it up. In his music, there’s so much to hear. One can tune it and pick out Blues melodies, and classic rock and roll rhythms in between the heavy guitar lines. Included in his set was “Get You Some”. “Devil You Know”, and latest release, “Savage”.

There was a large population of Seether fans in the crowd, based on the amount of various Seether concert shirts worn, and they gave their fans a much longer set than the previous acts. Spanning a twenty-four-year career, the band sounded as sharp and tight as they performed some of their most loved hits, “Fine Again”, “Broken”, “Rise Above This”, and closing their set with “Fake It” and “Remedy.”

Skillet took the stage around 9:30pm. They’re a Christian rock band that formed in Memphis, TN and include husband and wife, John and Korey Cooper, Jen Ledger, and Seth Morrison. In 28 years, they’ve released eleven studio albums, with two Grammy nominations. Purple haired, Korey Cooper, guitarist, put on an amazing performance as she rocked the stage in the opener, “Feel Invincible”. Things got real when John Cooper strapped smoke guns on his arms and white smoke billowed during “Surviving The Game.” Skillet performed a twelve-song set, closing with “Monster” and “The Resistance”. As the concert ended, there were many fans who left happily satisfied and exhausted from the night’s entertainment.