Black Stone Cherry were once again at the AO Arena in Manchester following their intimate shows back in 2023. Many people raved about those small shows but having Black Stone Cherry back in a massive arena where they belong is always a cause for celebration as they bring out a banger set list full of classics and tracks from their new album, Screamin at the Sky. Skillet and Ayron Jones also joined these shows.
Ayron Jones was first up and his set was a great warm up of guitar solos, killer riffing and a bass player that easily wins the showmanship award of the show. Ayron Jones is from Seattle but you could convince someone they’re an authentic southern rock band from the general South Carolina area.
The majority of frontman/guitarists/vocalist triple threats will always have one aspect that they’re better at. Lenny Kravitz is a better vocalist, Danko Jones is a better guitarist and Kid Rock is neither but Ayron Jones is a complete package. His vocals have that gruff southern rock styling and his guitar work is made of quintessential blues locks that are sure to impress even the snobbiest of guitar snobs.
The skills on display on songs like ‘Blood on the Water’ are stellar, between the Lenny Kravitz scream and Hendrix style clean guitar work on ‘Mercy,’ it’s clear that Ayron Jones has put all the work into his craft and just happens to fit the arena rock mold. Even outside of Ayron himself, his drummer, Malachi Jones, is supremely powerful and his bassist, Bob Lovelace, is a brilliantly entertaining stage presence as he holds down a tight rhythm while hitting the gritty in between his stretches of humping the drum kit. Don’t be surprised when Ayron Jones and his band get added to Fortnite.
Skillet was next and I’d be hard pressed to think of a better opener for a band like Black Stone Cherry. Their WWE machismo make them a stellar hype band as they go through set list staples like ‘Feel Invincible’ and ‘Rise’. Front man John Cooper acts as you’d expect a front man would but he also has this ability to be vulnerable in between the dude bro moments. He speaks candidly about how much music means to him and how much people connecting to his music means to him and it’s refreshing to see something so genuine. “We say no to depression, to fear, tonight we rise” could very easily become a mantra for someone in the audience and that’s magical to witness.
Skillet are more than just a collection of drop D riffs and borderline cheesy affirmations of positivity, they also have CO2 cannons and cello solos. There’s enough variety on tracks like ‘Psycho in Your Head’ which features dual vocals from drummer, Jen Ledger, who delivers a much needed bit of melodic contrast from John’s Gruff vocals. The on stage chemistry is brilliant and makes it all the more palatable.
The biggest tracks in the set list were ‘Hero’ and ‘Monster,’ two tracks that were staples in the AMV (Anime Music Video) scene back in the late 2000s. Odds are you heard these songs accompanied with clips of Goku and Vegeta fighting Friza and the songs do suffer in this setting without those clips but that’s likely due to everything becoming significantly more exciting just by the inclusion of Dragonball Z clips. These tracks are still enough to get an audience of thousands collectively hype and ready for a killer rock show with Black Stone Cherry.
Finally, Black Stone Cherry made it to the stage as they prepared to deliver the arena rock show of the year. As the cover dropped, the band opened with ‘Me and Mary Jane’ which is a perfect opener with it’s driving riffs and trade off guitar solos. The set continued with the ZZ Top swagger of ‘Burnin’’ which had that same chugging bluesy charm we’ve all come to love from Black Stone Cherry.
Black Stone Cherry made amazing use of the gigantic stage as they all roamed around the sprawling platforms and they even invited Ayron Jones and Skillet’s John Cooper on stage to perform a killer rendition of The Cult’s ‘American Horse’. This song was released recently as a single and it’s become a mainstay in my personal music rotation, it has so much power all while maintaining that infectious sing along quality that made the original so memorable.
The whole set was full of the usual classics like the WWE adjacent ‘Blind Man,’ the ultra heavy riff laden headbanger of ‘Lonely Train’ and the hard rock drinking anthem of ‘Blame it on the Boom’. A personal highlight however was ‘White Trash Millionaire,’ Manchester is no stranger to having an unashamedly good time while being perceived as trashy. The key is to ensure nobody else gets hurt and that everybody is having fun. Being trashy is a state of mind, it’s a sense of freedom from judgement and a self awareness that what you’re doing could be scrutinised but who cares? You’re having fun shotgunning beers and throwing your bra at rock stars. Icon behaviour at its finest.
Black Stone Cherry are also masters at slowing things down for more emotionally driven moments. Front man Chris Robertson seems like a genuine and heartfelt person as he dedicated ‘Things My Father Said’ to his hero and father, Mr Steve Robertson. The room was full of phone lights as the audience sang along brilliantly. It’s an emotional moment for all and it speaks to his connection to the audience as a front man. He even spent the last song, ‘Peace is Free,’ slowly walking through the crowd and making that incredibly rare connection with the audience that some artists will never be able to achieve.
It may be a while before Black Stone Cherry return to the UK, likely with new music, but they certainly left on a high note with a massive collection of shows to tide people over until they come back. Regardless of how long it takes, we’ll be able to sleep comfortably knowing they’re out there cooking up new music for their inevitable triumphant return. Even if they do take a long time, we can take solace in knowing there’s every chance Bob Lovelace is going to be in Fortnite some day.
