The Foundry at Judson Mill

(hed) p.e. Always hits hard live. Great band.

David Nail is a great artist. His voice and music are as unique as he is as an entertainer. A must see if you have a chance. Posted by Bill and Kay

It was fire. Great new venue in Greenville too.

Great show. Andrew Crocker was excellent as an opener. Lonestar is still awesome after all these years. Worth the price of admission. Good venue. Played all of their hits, some remixes and had the crowd involved.

Jo Dee Messina: 10/19/23 “My quest to see every 90’s country music artist still on the road at least one time brought me to The Foundry At Judson Mill for a Thursday evening show. It was my first time at the 1,000 person capacity venue and my first time ever seeing the CMA/ACM Grammy nominated Grand Ole Opry member from Framingham Massachusetts LIVE. It was the 42nd date of her 48 city ‘Heads Carolina Tails California 2023 Tour’ which began in February and runs till November. In September 2017 the singer/songwriter revealed she had been diagnosed with an unspecified cancer and all tour dates were postponed as she underwent treatments, she successfully recovered from the cancer diagnosis and resumed touring in 2022. With 6 studio albums and 22 singles including a half dozen number ones we were guaranteed an evening of song, nostalgia, and reminiscing. Arriving at the venue in a timely manner, my wife and I waited outside for an hour until the doors opened and were rewarded accordingly with a front row position up against the stage. The evening began with The Dryes a husband and wife vocal duo who appeared on Season 22 of NBC’s The Voice. The couple from North Carolina (married 12 years) brought along two additional band members and played a solid 30 minute / 8 song set featuring a mix of covers and originals from their most recent EP. The artist/audience interaction was playbook perfect and stirred the weeknight full house to life. Katelyn addressed the audience, ‘Man, y’all are a vibe, literally we were backstage and we were like “This crowd is rowdy”, and we are here for it.’ ‘Are there any sassy Southern women here tonight? [cheers] I could feel that in that last song!’ A fact well worth mentioning is that Derek plays all his own guitar work and does a fine job of it. Covers included ‘Boondocks’, ‘9 To 5’, and their audition song for the television program, ‘Islands In The Stream’. Originals included ‘Sawdust’, a song about all the bars they’ve played from two in attendance to a thousand, and the redneck/sacred ‘Raisin Beers & Hallelujahs’. At 9:30 p.m. the lights dimmed as the audience chanted ‘Jo Dee, Joo Deee, JOOO DEEEE!’ and headliner Jo Dee Marie Messina 53 took the stage for a 1 hour and 30 minute / 19 song set beginning with her 2005 number one ‘My Give A Damn’s Busted’. Bringing an accomplished six person band which included a female background singer/tambourine player she moved right into her version of the cover of Jennifer Warnes cover ‘I Know A Heartache When I See One’, a #10 single back in 1998. Addressing the audience, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen “Hi”, y’all got to be hot in here, you’re all squished in.’ She made it clear to us that she had been struggling with a cold. Earlier in the day she had run the ’Swamp Rabbit Trail’ to try and ‘cough the cold out, and so that didn’t work’. ‘If you know the songs, you gotta help me sing em!’ After her number one from 2000 ‘That’s The Way’ Jo Dee paused to read some of the signs audience members held up way in the back, she waited to address each one as they were passed all the way up to the stage. During the middle of her 1998 #1 ‘Im Alright’ written by Phil Vassar she borrowed her sound engineer’s cell phone as she had left her’s behind in the bus and asked if he had Phil’s new phone number in his contacts. Dialing out and getting Phil’s voice mail she led the audience in a round of the chorus leaving it for him recorded on his voice mail. ‘This is Jo Dee Messina we have a message for Phil, if you could pass it along that would be great’. Jo Dee shared some highlights of her faith journey prior to a cover of Zach William’s ‘Freedom’. ‘My world was rocked the day that Jesus walked into my world. I thought I had my act together, I thought that I knew what I was doing… the reality is for me I started to realize that to have my world together is to build around Christ.’ Next up, her band was featured with a penetrating cover of Boston’s instrumental ‘Foreplay’ leading into Kansas’ ‘Carry On Wayward Son.’ She didn’t call out the individual members by name which would have been nice considering each of them more than likely had a professional background based on their talent level. ‘Tell The Truth’ from her unnamed as yet forthcoming new album was next and her bass player, drummer and guitarist took a welcome break off stage. The song’s theme ponders the choice of whether it’s best to answer with the truth or with what you think the answer should be. Coughing between verse and chorus Jo Dee confessed ‘my voice is going little by little’ the audience took no mind as the vocal performance continued strong. A four song set of some of her biggest hits, all number ones or two’s, followed with ‘Heads Carolina Tails California’ (featuring Jo Dee on electric guitar), ‘Bring On The Rain’, ‘Stand Beside Me’ and ‘A Lesson In Leavin’. Next she sat down in front of a small keyboard center stage for a cover of Anne Wilson’s ‘My Jesus’. Hands were raised throughout the room and it wasn’t only for the purpose of holding up cell phones for videos. The final song of the regular set was 1998’s #1 ‘Bye Bye’ after which she left the stage. With another round of audience chants ‘Jo Dee, Joo Deee, JOOO DEEEE’ she returned for an encore of Journey’s ‘Don't Stop Believin' again showcasing the band’s diversity and talent. ‘You might know this one, if you know it sing it really loud so that I don’t have to.’ Even Security up against the stage unfolded their authoritative arms to move along to the number one downloaded song of all time. Notably missing from the set was 1996’s #7 You’re Not In Kansas Anymore’. From moving to Nashville at age 19 and working various temporary jobs, including computer programming and accounting just to make ends meet to where she is today —a woman full of gratitude, Jo Dee has established herself a integral voice of 90’s Country music and beyond!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #833)

The band is amazing live. Definitely a new wave of heaviness. Seen tge on the Mega Monsters tour also. Show was over to soon, but killed.

Incredible show, Will Ramos is a legend

Incredible! Great metal show

Knocked it out of the park! Best band in the Southeast!

Great to see a band that usually plays festivals in a small venue.... I was front and center - 15 feet from the band. Honestly, I think they had as good of a time as we did because of that too! I miss Brad -but Rome put on a great show. They played the classics and a some of the Rome songs including one they had just written.

Awesome venue and the boys rocked it out!

It was amazing!! Yelawolf isn't given the credit he deserves. He is one of the greatest rappers alive.

Show was beyond expectations. Catfish Billy came out and showed out! Enjoyed it.

Outstanding show and great sound quality! Hope they come back to Greenville often. Been waiting since Covid to see them live again, and this made my day, week, month, etc.

Sevendust has not missed a step. Played great songs and was very involved with the crowd

Was surprisingly fun honestly didn't know what to expect since it's been since high-school that I've listened to 3OH!3 but it was an amazing dose of nostalgia. Good energy in the crowd, they killed the show keeping everyone hype. Was a great time. Would definitely go see them again.

Honestly one of the best shows I’ve ever been to!

Everything was great! Awesome show Michael and the band were great. The man at the merch table is the best merch man ever!

They are awesome! First saw them about a year ago and they just keep getting better and better!

Amazeballs!!! They’re the real deal - rocked the house!! Even made a believer out of a non-rock fan! Highly recommend!