Photos of Breaking Benjamin
at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater.
All photos taken by Luke Spencer
in St. Louis, MO on July 21, 2019.
St. Louis loves Breaking Benjamin as much as they love toasted ravioli and their Stanley Cup winning hockey team. I’ve seen it with my own eyes and every time this band comes to the gateway to the west, fans show up in droves.
This was the start of a huge summer headline tour featuring Chevelle, Three Days Grace, Dorothy, and Diamante. BB’s 2019 tour is by far one of the biggest runs going through the summer in the hard rock scene and is worth the money based on these names alone.
After Patrico from 105.7 The Point introduced the band and hyped the crowd with a slow cap, the curtain fell revealing Breaking Benjamin already in place on stage and roaring into “Red Cold River”. Featured throughout the set were hits from the early 2000’s all the way up to their most recent album Ember.
What stood out to me most was the medley that the band is now known for playing, featuring many rock and metal classics. The band performed this same medley a year ago at the same venue on a co-headline tour with Five Finger Death Punch. It’s impressive, it’s fun…but it takes a long time to get through and we’ve all heard it before. The fans were losing their minds when the band started playing “Sugarcoat”. That’s the type of moments Breaking Benjamin fans are going to remember and be glad they spent their money on, not a collection of one minute clips from 90’s and 2000’s hits by other artists. Hearing the crowd sing along to “So Cold” and “Failure” helped prove this.
All that being said and even in the crazy heat from a 100 degree weekend, Breaking Benjamin still delivered a strong show. There was pep in Benjamin’s step and you could see his countenance was raised a bit while performing. After the song “Never Again” Benjamin Burnley stood right in front of his AC tubing and addressed the crowd saying “Maybe we shouldn’t have started this tour in St. Louis, because now every other show after this is going to suck.” Ben has called StL his home away from home, and it’s clear that the city wants him as a permanent resident.
BB will be continuing their headline tour through the rest of the summer and into the fall. You can find upcoming tour dates and more info on the band’s Facebook page here: Breaking Benjamin on Facebook
Setlist:
Red Cold River
I Will Not Bow
Never Again
Breath
Sugarcoat
Polyamorous
Medley (The Imperial March / Cowboys From Hell / Smells Like Teen Spirit / Bohemian Rhapsody / Enter Sandman / Bulls On A Parade / Drum Solo)
Sooner or Later
Blow Me Away
Tourniquet
So Cold
Angels Fall
Dance with the Devil
Failure
Torn in Two
