Multi-GRAMMY®-Nominated Godsmack Bring the Thunder on LIVE AT MOHEGAN SUN
“Just to watch this alone as a spectacle was rewarding…I love how much work Sully and Shannon put into it…It’s just a great performance in which a lot of care has been taken, and I congratulate it.” —Neil Peart
Three decades into their career, Godsmack still sound like a band built for the stage. Live at Mohegan Sun (Primary Wave) captures their October 2024 performance at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena, turning a career-spanning set into a live album that reminds you just how many songs this band has made to be played loud. “Surrender” kicks things off with immediate force, while longtime favorites “Awake,” “Voodoo,” “Straight Out of Line” and “I Stand Alone” sit comfortably alongside later standouts including “When Legends Rise,” “Bulletproof” and “You and I.” Rather than feeling like a retrospective, the album catches Godsmack in the moment—the guitars are heavy, Sully Erna is commanding up front, and the energy of the crowd is part of the recording rather than simply background noise. The live video for “I Stand Alone,” filmed during the same show, gives fans an even closer look at the scale and intensity of this epic performance.
One of the album’s undeniable highlights is “Battle of the Drums,” the long-running live showcase between Erna and drummer Shannon Larkin. The two have spent decades developing the piece, and here it becomes more than a drum solo—it’s a full-blown performance within the performance, built around precision, chemistry and the sheer fun of watching two musicians push each other. Erna has described it as an intricate piece that he and Larkin have continually refined into a spectacle, and on Live at Mohegan Sun, you can hear why it has become such an enduring part of the Godsmack live experience. The album also moves confidently between the hypnotic pull of “Voodoo,” the vulnerability of “Under Your Scars” and the hard-hitting “Whatever,” showing the range within a catalog that has never lost sight of its rock foundation.
Boston-bred Godsmack—Sully Erna, Tony Rombola, Robbie Merrill and Shannon Larkin—have spent decades building a place among hard rock’s most enduring bands. Their catalog stretches from their 1998 self-titled debut through Awake, Faceless, IV, The Oracle, 1000hp, When Legends Rise and 2023’s Lighting Up the Sky, earning the band three GRAMMY® Award nominations along the way. Live at Mohegan Sun brings that history together in one room, capturing the chemistry of the band’s classic lineup while also marking the close of one chapter and the beginning of another. It’s less about looking backward than documenting what Godsmack has always done particularly well: get onstage, turn it up and let the music do the talking.
For more information on Godsmack and Live at Mohegan Sun, visit Godsmack.com.
REVIEWS
“The Battle of the Drums is a melodic groove-fest, with chops galore…it features matching kits, spinning drum risers, a two-drummer face-off, and some world-class drumming…There have been many drum solos in hard rock, but there is none like Godsmack’s Battle of the Drums.”
—Modern Drummer
“An inspired performance”
—Consequence
“[Live at Mohegan Sun] captures Godsmack playing with precision, fire, and gratitude.” —That Eric Alper
“A powerful closing chapter for Godsmack’s classic lineup”
—Full Access Magazine
