Skillet at the PlayStation Theater

John Cooper, bassist and founder of Skillet, began singing at a young age, playing guitar around age 18 and bass guitar at 19 in Memphis, Tennessee. From 1989 to 1995, Cooper was in an experimental and progressive rock band called Seraph, which released a four-song demo before disbanding. Cooper co-founded Skillet in 1996, but by 2000 he was the only remaining original member of the band. The hard rocking band cultivated an audience in Christian rock, and became one of the biggest sellers in the genre, while also touring numerous times with secular hard rock bands. Several of the band's bombastic anthems songs have been adopted by sports teams or used in sporting events over the years. One Skillet album achieved double platinum status, one hit platinum, and two hit gold. The band released its 10th album, Victorious, on August 2, 2019. Skillet currently consists of husband John (lead vocals, bass) and wife Korey Cooper (rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Seth Morrison (lead guitar), and Jen Ledger (drums, vocals).

Co-headlining with Alter Bridge on the Victorious Sky tour, Skillet stunned many of the attending hard rock fans at the PlayStation Theater who had never before heard the band's music. Skillet focused on its five most recent albums, and in those albums concentrated on the more anthemic arena-rockers. With or without his bass, Cooper was the consummate showman, his body moving dynamically on the stage in tune with the aggressive music, all the while singing in a muscular, gravelly voice. On a couple of songs, his deeply masculine voice alternated with Ledger's light feminine voice, and the vocal arrangements proved to be stellar. Skillet employed a line of canons to create fog pillars along the front edge of the stage, and for one song two roadies strapped smaller cannons to Cooper's wrists for a superhero effect. The music was heavy and highly melodic, always building to a crescendo for the choruses, and the lyrics were positive, encouraging and uplifting. Skillet proved to be the perfect antithesis for the current trend of dark and morbid metal.

Setlist:

1. Feel Invincible
2. Not Gonna Die
3. You Ain't Ready
4. Whispers in the Dark
5. Legendary
6. Awake and Alive
7. Back From the Dead
8. Hero
9. Undefeated
10. Victorious
11. Comatose
12. Monster
13. The Resistance