Godsmack and Rob Zombie at DTE Energy Music Theatre

Being someone that was not a virgin to a Godsmack or a Rob Zombie show, I knew what was about to come and I was looking forward to it. The three-hour drive to Clarkston (by Detroit in Michigan) wasn’t even going to get me down. But once we arrived at the venue the annoying things began, like running back and forth from one ticket window to the next just to find who had my tickets! Can you believe I was still in great spirits even after that?

The opening band was Shinedown, they took the stage to a half full DTE (their capacity is 15,274) at 7pm. Though the venue wasn’t filled yet the people that were there were totally into the rock and roll sounds of Shinedown. They played all of their popular radio/mainstream songs like “45”, “Fly From the Inside”, and “Save Me”, as well as many other songs in their 45 minute set.

By the time Rob Zombie hit the stage at 8pm the venue was packed from the front rows to the back of the pavilion and it seemed that even all of the lawn seats were filled. I quenched my thirst with a tasty $5 Lemonade (beat $7 for a beer that would last me less than ten minutes). Rob Zombie’s stage set-up was plastered with skulls and stars & stripes. Rob and his band entered the stage to the theme music from the movie ‘Halloween’. 5 video screens donned the stage, which showed videos, pictures and clips from Rob’s movies ‘House of 1,000 Corpses’ and ‘Devil’s Rejects’ throughout the night. 

Rob Zombie’s 1-hour set was full of great music (including songs from the days of White Zombie) such as “Thunder Kiss ‘65”, “More Human Than Human” (including his signature Robot walking around on stage during this song), “Living Dead Girl” and my all-time favorite “Pussy Liquor”. The Rob Zombie set was being recorded live for Rob’s upcoming Live CD and was also being video taped! He ended the show with “Dragula” and dedicated the evening to Johnny Ramone, it was the two-year anniversary of the punk icons death.