Breaking Benjamin
When: December 17th, 2009
Where: Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
Opening Acts: 30 Seconds To Mars, Sick Puppies
Length: 1 Hour
Set List: 
I Will Not Bow, Until The End, Had Enough, Blow Me Away, Sooner Or Later, Dream On, So Cold, Polyamorous, Into The Nothing, Fade Away, Breath, The Diary Of Jane. 

Reviewed By:

Rating:

3 1/2 Volts

Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania’s own Breaking Benjamin was the culmination of a solid musical lineup for the “Big Snow Show 4” held at The Rave (Eagles Ballroom).  This is the 4^th year the December “Snow Show” concert has been put on by Milwaukee radio’s FM 102.1.  The concert featured Sick Puppies, 30 Seconds to Mars, and the aforementioned Breaking Benjamin.

Breaking Benjamin took the stage a little after 10:15.  The crowd was still buzzing after a solid set by opening act 30 Seconds to Mars, and Breaking Benjamin kept the energy flowing.  The band opened with their new single “I Will Not Bow”, from their new album Dear Agony.  The backdrop of long red flashing lights, hovering fog, and the groups symbol of 4 interlocking letter B’s, almost gave the impression that the band was playing from the front of a recently landed spaceship.  After a solid opener, the group launched into “Until The End”, from 2006’s RIAA Platinum certified Phobia.  After that were crowd pleasers, “Had Enough”, and “Blow Me Away”.

Midway through the set the group performed “Sooner or Later”, from the bands breakthrough album, We Are Not Alone.  After the song, lead vocalist, and founding member, Benjamin Burnley thanked the crowd by saying, “I saw a lot of people singing every word, followed by throw my life away”. 

Next up was a dark and powerful cover of Aerosmith’s, “Dream On”.  The group covered the song, with their trademark dark sound, full of powerful riffs.  Ben Burnley sang his ass off for this one, and Aerosmith would have been proud of their version of the song. 

After a performance of “Polyamorous” from their debut album Saturate, Burnley took a moment to praise all the men and women in the military, by telling the crowd, “This song is dedicated to all the fuc*ing troops”.  The song he was referring to is, “Into The Nothing”, off of Dear Agony.  The song references death, heaven, and overall faith:

“Carry the wounded and shut your eyes, bury the fallen and lead the blind”. 

The loudest portion of the night came during a performance of the #1 single, “Breath”, and was capped off by another classic, “The Diary of Jane”.  As the song rolled on, and the lights blared over the raucous crowd, several young woman could not resist the temptation to “flash” the band, and in essence the rest of the crowd.  Apparently Breaking Benjamin is one of those bands that some people just cannot control themselves around.

Breaking Benjamin played for just over an hour, and packed enough punch in their set to leave anyone with long lasting memories.  The band performs so tight and crisp, they sound like they have been together for over 20 years, not just 8.  Next time they are in your area, and you would like to see the current and future of rock music, Noon Radio recommends you check them out for yourself.