Concert Review
Puddle Of Mudd
Rockin’ The Downs Concert Series
Batavia Downs
Batavia, NY
Friday July 27, 2018
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto
When Wes Scantlin is on top of his game there are few better front-men from his era. As evidenced by Puddle of Mudd’s performance at the Batavia Downs Friday night, this was exactly what the fans wanted to see. Scantlin has now been sober for almost a year and it shows on stage. Scantlin appeared to be pulling songs out of thin air during the bands near two-hour set.
The current version of Scantlin’s Puddle Of Mudd includes guitarist Matt Fuller, bassist Michael John Adams as well as drummer Dave Moreno. This lineup has been together since 2014 and they sounded amazing. You could not ask for much better weather as noted by Scantlin earlier during the proceedings.
The band entered the stage with the Wizard of Oz theme playing until they started off with “Control” which then dipped into Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” for a verse. Early on the band mixed in hits like “Stoned” and rare plays of songs like the AC/DC cover of “TNT”. From there the band mixed things up by playing songs from all their studio albums.
Highlights included “She Hates Me” which was intertwined with a verse of “Summer Nights” from the musical Grease. A rare play of the stellar track “We Don’t Have To Look Back Now” simply was one of those moments you just don’t see in many concerts these days.
It was one of those rare shows where you were expecting the band to end with their big song “Blurry” any moment, the only problem was the band kept digging deeper into their catalog. Songs like “Said”, “Daddy”, “Living On Borrowed Time” and the Stones cover of “Gimme Shelter” showed the flexibility of the band as well as diversity.
It hard to believe the band’s last album was a covers project released in 2011. Word is they are working on a new album. A rejuvenated Scantlin writing new material is exactly what Puddle Of Mudd fans have been waiting for. The fans who witnessed Puddle Of Mudd rockin’ the downs Friday night know what this band is capable of. Let’s hope they can deliver going forward.
Set List
Control / War Pigs
Stoned
Out of My Head
Keep It Together
Drift & Die
TNT (AC/DC) Cover
Bring Me Down
Abrasive
Never Change
Spaceship
She Hates Me / Summer Nights
Gimme Shelter (Stones Cover)
Away From Me
Said
Already Gone
We Don’t Have to Look Back Now
Nobody Told Me
Basement
Psycho
Famous
Livin’ on Borrowed Time
Daddy
Blurry
