Live report GODSMACK, P.O.D. & DROWNING POOL, Inselpark Arena, Hamburg – April 11th, 2025

Tonight we step into a time machine that takes us back to the late 90s and early 2000s. American rock powerhouse Godsmack are currently on tour in Europe, with a stop in the south of Hamburg for a show at the Inselpark Arena. With them on the road are San Diego’s P.O.D. and Drowning Pool.

With a few fans still queuing outside the venue, Drowning Pool start the night at 7pm with ‘Sinner’, the title track from their debut album. It was the first album that catapulted the band into the charts and is their most commercially successful release to date. That’s why two more songs from the album are played tonight. The calmer “Tear Away” follows a cover version, which Drowning Pool have included in their setlist. Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” gets some very positive reactions from the fans, while the question is why a band with seven studio albums has to rely on a cover song. You have to admire that we are listening to a very energetic version of the Billy Idol classic, which tells you something.

Drowning Pool mainly focus on the early releases, while the last three longplayers aren’t present tonight. The guys from Dallas, Texas delivered a solid show and were a good opener, but not much more, while one of the questions is why the guys didn’t even add “MADNESS” and “REVOLUTION”, two brand new track, to their set.

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After a short break it’s time for P.O.D. from San Diego, California to bring some West Coast energy to Hamburg. The band starts their set with “Boom” and the crowd is immediately present. Some “Sonny, Sonny” chants in the front row show that some fans came especially for the Californian powerhouse and P.O.D. do not disappoint people.

Unlike Drowning Pool, the four-piece build their set on a well-balanced mixture of old and new. The “Satellite” release and most recent studio album, “Veritas,” are the foundation of tonight’s show, and fans love them all. P.O.D. bring a lot of energy to the stage and the fans appreciate the effort. We are in for 45 minutes of jumping around, flying dreadlocks and even a circle pit. The latter is quite big, initiated by the band. This is the moment when the people go wild and the first crowd surfers start their journey towards the front of the hall.

No matter if people have seen P.O.D. before or, like most of the audience, are experiencing them live for the first time, everyone is having a good time during these 45 minutes, which is also reflected in the chants of “Ole Ole Ole … P.O.D.”, initiated by guitarist Marcos Curiel.

P.O.D. delivered an impressive show full of energy. The guys showed why they are still a band to be reckoned with. It was passion and a lot of exciting action that filled the room and P.O.D. got a well deserved and huge applause after finishing their set with “Alive”.

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Now it is time for the headliner – Godsmack. Sully Erna and his bandmates are back in Germany after playing a few shows back in 2022, and there’s a slightly different line-up on stage tonight. Sully Erna and Robbie Merrill are still the driving forces of the band, but guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin have left Godsmack and some replacements were needed. Evanescence drummer Will Hunt joins Godsmack on this tour as well as guitarist Sam Bam Koltrun and the guys rock.

The stage is covered by a huge curtain during the break. After the curtain falls, the view of the stage reveals a large digital backdrop and after the intro feat. Mix Master Mike, a live stream is shown on the screen, following the band as they make their way from the dressing room to the stage. Once there, Godsmack start their show with “Surrender”. It is a new song from the latest album, followed by “You and I” from the same longplayer. Most of the show takes us back in time on more than one occasion. There is the iconic “Voodoo”, which is one of my favourite songs and gives the night a hypnotic touch. Before that the band plays the first song Erna wrote (“Keep Away”) and he uses his 40 dollar guitar to compose the track. The guitar is also in action tonight before “Batalla de los tambores” provides a special moment. Such a battle of drums wasn’t to be expected as Godsmack have a new drummer on board for the live shows, Will Hunt. Nevertheless, the band added the iconic drummer duel to the set. Two moving and rotating drum kits are the scenery, with Erna and Hunt delivering a great drum performance, a real duel with a lot of punch. This is for sure a wow-moment of the show.

The three songs of the encore are all from “When Legends Rise”, including “Under Your Scars” which is dedicated to musicians we all love and lost during the last years.

We can conclude that Godsmack delivered tonight. Sully Erna and his bandmates underlined their status in modern rock and metal. It’s a comprehensive show we could witness this evening that included great songs, a pretty good sound and strong visuals. It was an enjoyable and energetic evening in Wilhelmsburg and the perfect start into the weekend.