STRYPER In New Bedford, MA With Photos!
By
George Dionne,
Podcaster
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 @ 10:17 AM
| At The Vault Music Hall & Pub
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All Photos by George Dionne/@rockisgeorge
Heavenly Metal act STRYPER kicked off The Final Battle Tour 2023 in frontman Michael Sweet’s home state of Massachusetts. The Vault Music Hall & Pub was near capacity to see their hometown heroes back on the live stage. The last time STRYPER played The Vault was February 2, 2019. I was there for that performance as well.
Opening for STRYPER was another Massachusetts native act, FIRSTBOURNE. This was the first I had heard of them, but they describe themselves as an Arena Rock/Power Metal band. FIRSTBOURNE put on an electric performance full of melody and power. Their set only ran 8 songs, but they delivered with purpose, harmony, and conviction. They debuted a new song, and ended the set with a cover of “Rising Force”, by YNGWIE MALSTEEM’S RISING FORCE. They were very impressive and worth keeping and ear on.
Setlist:
- “Truth of the Lion”
- “Firstbourne Heart”
- “Symphony”
- “Prisoners of the Present”
- “When Morning Breaks”
- “Riot”
- “Pick Up The Torch”
- “Rising Force”
STRYPER kicked off their set with “Transgressor” from their current album The Final Battle. Oz Fox, Robert Sweet, Perry Richardson, and Michael Sweet had the crowd eating out of their hands from the opening notes. For a new song, the crowd knew it. STRYPER went back to their very beginnings with their second song “Loving You”, which Michael Sweet described as his favorite in the band’s catalog.
From there, the set was heavy on classic material, with sprinklings of STRYPER’s most recent offerings. If you haven’t been paying attention to the band for a while, their new material is by far their heaviest. It all plays out stellar live. In addition, STRYPER’s multi-part vocal harmonies cannot be matched in a live setting.
Since this was the first performance of the tour, there were bound to be some missteps. The band couldn’t seem to figure out just where and when “Divider” was supposed to be performed in the set. Robert Sweet kept trying to tell them ‘not yet’. STYRPER reintroduced their mega ballad “Honestly” into the set after years of not performing it. There were signs that it had been a while.
None of that really mattered because STRYPER was among friends and fans, and where they needed assistance, the crowd was there. The “Sing-Along Song” closed out the nearly two hour set with hand waving, head bouncing, unison singing, and a warm and gracious amount of applause from the hometown crowd.
Setlist:
- “Transgressor”
- “Loving You”
- “More Than a Man”
- “Surrender”
- “Calling on You”
- “Free”
- “In God We Trust”
- “Revelation”
- “Sorry”
- “All For One”
- “Always There for You”
- “Honestly”
- “Divider”
- “No Rest for the Wicked”
- “No More Hell to Pay”
- “Soldiers Under Command”
- “To Hell With The Devil”
- “The Valley”
- “Sing-Along Song”
STRYPER on tour:
- April 13 - H-E-B Center at Cedar Park - Cedar Park, TX
- April 14 - Arlington Hall - Arlington, TX
- April 15 - RISE Rooftop - Houston, TX
- April 29 - Monsters of Rock Cruise 2023 - Miami, FL
- May 10 - Mercury Ballroom - Louisville, KY
- May 11 - MGM Northfield Park - Northfield, OH
- May 12 - BMI Event Center - Versailles, OH
- May 13 - The Token Lounge - Westland, MI
- May 16 - Eagles Theatre - Wabash, IN
- May 17 - The Vixen - McHenry, IL
- May 19 - Crystal Grand Music Theatre - Wisconsin Dells, WI
- May 21 - The Royal Grove - Lincoln, NE
- May 26 - The Newberry - Great Falls, MT
- May 31 - Bossanova Ballroom - Portland, OR
- June 03 - Yost Theater - Santa Ana, CA
- June 04 - House of Blues San Diego - San Diego, CA
- June 06 - Whisky A Go Go - West Hollywood, CA
- June 07 - Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos by George Dionne/@rockisgeorge
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