Godsmack's fire ignites its homecoming

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MANSFIELD - The temperature was in the 40s, and the rain was pouring down, but the weather didn't derail Godsmack's homecoming concert. The band heated up a Tweeter Center throng of 13,000 last night with a full-scale, hard-rock production that included lavish pyrotechnics along with two belly dancers and two hydraulically hoisted percussionists who turned this into a tribal happening.

The crowd, which sang along lustily to nearly every song, featured 2,000 members of the military who had bought special $10 tickets in the reserved section on the lawn. Godsmack has taken a promilitary stance this spring, and it loaned its new song, ''Awake,'' for use in a Navy recruitment ad.

Godsmack's ferociously high-energy, 90-minute show started with video footage of Apache helicopters honing in on a desert target, interspersed by the words, ''We will prevail ... stronger than them all.'' The band then ripped into a new track, ''Straight Out of Line,'' with leather-lunged Sully Erna singing, ''You don't need to lie to me.''

It was a dramatic start to a night packed with dramatics. Erna exorcised all kinds of demons on stage, unleashing pent-up anger throughout, especially on ''Faceless'' (the title track to a new CD that recently entered Billboard's album chart at No. 1) and ''I [expletive] Hate You,'' which he has said he wrote in response to a dispute with contractors who worked on his new home in New Hampshire. Last night he told the crowd, ''You know I have my own issues,'' but he directed fans to take out their own anger against ''all the ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends who have stomped on your life.''

Erna's raw, larynx-shredding vocals were met head-on by guitarist Tony Rombola's screaming, Jimmy Page-inspired riffs, bassist Robbie Merrill's pounding melody lines, and new drummer Shannon Larkin's astonishing local debut on the skins. He gave Godsmack an extra, bulldozer-like push, playing with a physical power reminiscent of Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, and an abililty to throw in subtle fills like Stewart Copeland of the Police.

The show really hit high gear on ''Voodoo,'' as the dancers and percussionists came out and jets of pyro boomed 20 feet into the air. Erna, who began his career as a drummer, then popped up on a hydraulic lift to jam transcendentally with Larkin, before confetti showered down for ''Whatever.''

Godsmack then let the crowd go with head-banging versions of ''Awake'' and ''I Stand Alone,'' which capped this triumphant homecoming.

Opening acts included locals Blind by Noon and Letdown (who won a Godsmack-promoted battle of the bands to get there) and the up-and-down Cold, an appropriately named group for this chilly night in Mansfield.

Godsmack With: Cold, Blind by Noon, and Letdown At: The Tweeter Center, last night