Words & Photos by Stephanie Williams

One of the most anticipated tours of the year for the Pacific Northwest, Static-X and Sevendust brought their co-headlining “Machine Killer Tour” to a rainy Tacoma, Washington on May 4th at a sold-out Temple Theatre with opening bands Dope and Lines of Loyalty. 

Three-piece Lines of Loyalty warmed the crowd up in a veil of mystery and darkness. Hailing from Wisconsin, these guys have a tight sound reminiscent of Smile Empty Soul and seem to have appeared out of nowhere to stake their claim in the music industry. 

Second up were New York natives, Dope, who made their mark in the nu-metal scene in the late 90s. They played a mix of some more recent songs and the hit “Debonair” and fan favorite “Die MF Die” before ending their set with the story of how they were approached to record a song for the movie American Psycho and launching into their cover of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin me Round (Like a Record)” to the delight of the crowd. 

Hailing from Atlanta Georgia, co-headliners Sevendust took control of the stage leading with “I Might Let the Devil Win” from their latest album Truth Killer – a song reminiscent of the smooth R&B sound popular in Atlanta in the mid-90s when the band was first forming – before transitioning into that harder old-school Sevendust sound for the title track “Truth Killer” and later playing top songs “Denial”, “Black”, “Enemy”, “Splinter”, “Bitch”, ending with “Face to Face” before handing the stage over to Static-X to finish the night. 

Who is XerO? It’s highly speculated that Edsel Dope is the cybernetic robot frontman for Static-X. Regardless of who XerO is, this reincarnation/nod to the late Wayne Static is one of the most highly respected ways a modern band has honored a late member. Static-X incorporate theatrics into their live show complete with pyro, bubbles, and Nightmare Before Christmas-like characters. While Static-X played a few newer songs such as “Hollow”, “Terminator Oscillator” and “Z0mbie”, they performed several of their older songs such as “Love Dump”, “Fix” and “Back and White” in the first half of their set before transitioning to the end of the show with an in memoriam to Wayne during their performance of “Cold” and ending the crowd on a high note with hits “I’m With Stupid” and “Push It”.

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TheWaster.com | Tacoma
5.11.24