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When the lead singers for the two opening acts asked the fans in the sold-out crowd in the Landmark Theatre to stand up on Saturday night, it was very much like a plea.
It sure seemed as if the early-comers were content to sit through the work of Dropbox; second band Ill Nino fared slightly better in the rise-off-your-fanny factor.
But when Godsmack's Sully Erna got his turn to talk, first his words were more like a tease.
"There's still a few slackers up there," Erna said, peering into the first row of the second level. "We're gonna get you. No matter how cool you think you are, we're gonna get you tonight."
A few momentslater, Erna spied a body or two still seated.
"There's only one rule at a Godsmack concert," he said. "Get the - - up! There's just two reasons to stay down. One, you're too drunk to stand up. Two, you're just way too old to be here with us cool people."
Really, Erna was preaching to the choir.
One, there were plenty of inebriated folks standing and weaving to their obviously favorite band from Boston.
Two, there also appears to be plenty of Godsmack fans in their 30s enjoying the kind of heavy metal music that's made them happy since the Metallica days. After all, James Hetfield and mates picked Godsmack as Metallica's opening act because the line of hard stuff definitely connects the two bands, from the '80s to '90s and today.
Saturday night at the Landmark, Erna and his band mates rocked hard, fast and loud.
Guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill and drummer Shannon Larkin obviously were having a blast taking the hard stuff from Godsmack's first three albums and laying it heavy on the capacity crowd.
Songs like "Awake," "Straight Out of Line," "Re-Align" and "Faceless" gave the band and its fans plenty of opportunity to scream, yell and head-bang.
The power surge continued with a neat twist.
Before Godsmack started in 1995, Erna played drums for several bands in Boston.
So midway through the set, he emerged behind his own flame-covered drum kit to battle with Larkin.
They dueled side by side, with echoes of Aerosmith, the Who and Black Sabbath thundering from their four sticks. The sets even swiveled to the side to allow Erna and Larkin to pound face-to-face.
The winner? All of the frenzied fans who pounded the air with their fists.
Godsmack showed its softer side, too.
The band earlier this year released what the musicians are calling album "3 1/2."
"The Other Side" is a collection of seven songs done acoustically.
In concert, the band chose to go with a softer approach to the spell-binding "Voodoo," to chilling effect.
And Rombola's acoustic guitar complemented Erna's aching ballad voice perfectly, causing cigarette lighters to rise during the encore of their hit, "Serenity."
Neither Dropbox nor Ill Nino came anywhere as close to the magic of Godsmack, but both bands had a couple of worthy musical moments.
Dropbox, led by former Godsmack guitarist Lee Edwards, had much fun with "Wishbone," off the debut disc that just came out Tuesday.
Ill Nino, a Latin-tinged band from New Jersey, rolled with its powerful single, "This Time's for Real."