Photos by Daniel DeSlover

The sheer quantity of tour buses and trucks that lined the streets of downtown Madison suggested a massive show was imminent. Headliner Breaking Benjamin brought along Skillet, Underoath and Fight The Fury, then proceeded to cram an arena-scale production inside The Sylvee.

Breaking Benjamin worked through an even distribution of material from a six-album catalog, but diverged from originals for mid-set medley of covers that began with Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell” and concluded with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

Opening with rage-rocker “Red Cold River” from its latest effort, “Ember,” Breaking Benjamin kicked into full gear and the general admission floor surged with energy. Perhaps it was a rough Monday at work, or just the demise of winter, but the near-capacity crowd came to rock and didn’t hold anything back. Alt-rock radio hits “I Will Not Bow” and “Breath” fueled the fist-pumping, while the chilling rocker “Failure” and the somber “Angels Fall” gave everyone a breather from the intensity, but never at the expense of emotion.

Breaking Benjamin worked through an even distribution of material from a six-album catalog, but diverged from originals for mid-set medley of covers that began with Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell” and concluded with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was included in that mix, and given that front man Benjamin Burnley sports a Nirvana tattoo on his left arm, he did a fine job paying tribute to the obvious inspiration.

The band eventually got back to new music, performing “Tourniquet,” “The Dark Of You,” and “Torn In Two,” effectively book-ending the set with music from the explosive “Ember.” Breaking Benjamin returned for a two-song encore, playing “Dear Agony” before the multi-platinum “The Diary Of Jane” brought one final round of melodic mayhem to the masses.

For additional information on Breaking Benjamin, visit BreakingBenjamin.com.

For a list of upcoming concerts at The Sylvee, visit TheSylvee.com.

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