Words and photos by Adam Tibbott
The Rise of Rock World Tour 2026 | Godsmack, Dorothy | October 13, 2026 | Pinnacle Bank Arena | Lincoln, Nebraska
Some concerts are loud. Others are the kind of loud that you can physically feel in your chest, rattling the building around you and reminding you why live rock music remains such a powerful experience. Godsmack and Dorothy brought that energy to Lincoln’s Pinnacle Bank Arena for their Rise of Rock tour, delivering an evening of thunderous guitars, commanding vocals, and nearly three decades of musical history.
For me, this particular evening carried a little more significance than the average arena concert. I’ve been watching Godsmack perform since April 3, 1999, when I caught them at the Super Toad Entertainment Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Back then, they were still building their reputation, playing venues that held roughly a thousand people. Nearly 28 years later, watching them command an arena capable of holding 15,000 fans is a remarkable reminder of just how far they’ve come.
And somehow, they’ve managed to remain one of the loudest bands I’ve ever had the privilege of watching in concert.
Dorothy: A Voice Built for Arenas
Opening the evening was Dorothy, whose combination of blues-inspired hard rock, modern production, and undeniable vocal power proved to be an ideal introduction to the night’s festivities.
Frontwoman Dorothy Martin has the kind of voice that doesn’t simply compete with the instruments surrounding her. It rises above them. Throughout the band’s opening performance, she showcased an impressive vocal range, shifting between gritty, blues-soaked aggression and soaring melodies with seemingly effortless control.
Beginning with “Down to the Bottom,” Dorothy immediately established the tone for the evening. “THE DEVIL I KNOW” and “Gun in My Hand” continued building momentum, while “Rest in Peace” and “Medicine Man” provided additional opportunities for Martin to demonstrate the versatility of her voice.
By the time the band reached “Dark Nights” and closing number “Elevate,” the crowd was thoroughly warmed up and ready for what was coming next.
This was my third time seeing Dorothy live, dating back to her stunning second stage appearance during Northern Invasion in 2017, followed by a headlining performance at Omaha’s Slowdown in 2022. Once of the first shows I’d seen after the Covid Pandemic lockdowns.
Watching a band or musician develop across multiple performances over several years offers a perspective that a single concert rarely provides. Dorothy’s music has always carried a certain rawness, but her and the band’s material translates particularly well to an arena environment. Martin’s voice is more than capable of filling a room this size, and the band’s performance demonstrated exactly why they belong on stages of this magnitude.
Godsmack: Nearly 30 Years Later and Still Shaking the Walls
There are certain bands whose live performances become almost legendary for their sheer volume. Godsmack has long occupied a place near the top of that list. From the opening moments of “Generation Day,” it became apparent that the band had absolutely no intention of easing Lincoln into the evening.
The sound was enormous.
Not simply loud for the sake of being loud, but the kind of overwhelming, full-bodied sound that seems to travel through the concrete beneath your feet. Guitars thundered across the arena, the drums hit with tremendous force, and Sully Erna’s unmistakable vocals cut through the noise.
“When Legends Rise” and “You and I” kept the momentum moving before “1000hp” and “Awake” reminded the audience just how much ground Godsmack has covered throughout their career.
For longtime fans, however, some of the evening’s most satisfying moments came from revisiting the band’s earliest material.
The Songs That Started Everything
We’re approaching the 30th anniversary of Godsmack’s self-titled debut album, and hearing “Keep Away,” “Voodoo,” and “Whatever” performed in 2026 was something special.
These are songs that helped establish the band’s identity during the late 1990s, when hard rock was undergoing a dramatic transformation, and became the centerpieces of so many fans’ personal soundtracks. Nearly three decades later, they’ve lost remarkably little of their original intensity.
“Keep Away” still carries that unmistakable swagger. “Whatever” remains as confrontational and explosive as ever. And “Voodoo,” with its hypnotic rhythm and haunting atmosphere, continues to stand apart from almost everything else in the band’s catalog.
One of the evening’s more memorable visual elements accompanied the band’s older material. The enormous video screen displayed an animated version of the artwork from Godsmack’s debut album, bringing the familiar cover image to life.
Watching the mysterious woman from that artwork slowly move across the massive screen was unexpectedly surreal and hypnotic. For anyone who remembers seeing that album on record-store shelves in 1998, there was something wonderfully strange about watching an image that had remained frozen in time for nearly three decades suddenly come alive, flirting with the crowd.
It was a small visual detail that created a surprisingly strong connection between the band’s past and present.
More Than a Greatest-Hits Performance
What made the setlist particularly effective was its willingness to move between different periods of Godsmack’s career.
“Something Different” provided a change in atmosphere, while “Rocky Mountain Way,” the band’s interpretation of Joe Walsh’s classic, offered a nod to the older rock traditions that helped shape their sound.
“Love-Hate-Sex-Pain” demanded crowd participation from the women who’ve endured the asshole type of men, while “Under Your Scars” demonstrated another side of the band, balancing the evening’s heavier material with moments of greater emotional weight.
Of course, no Godsmack performance would feel entirely complete without “Batalla de los tambores,” the band’s signature percussion showcase. The drum battle has become one of their most recognizable live traditions, giving the musicians an opportunity to step away from the conventional concert format and let the rhythm take center stage.
“Bulletproof” brought the evening toward its conclusion before “I Stand Alone” delivered a fitting finale.
After nearly 90 minutes worth of songs, Godsmack had offered a substantial reminder of why their music has remained relevant across multiple generations of rock fans.
From Small Clubs to Massive Arenas
This was my sixth time seeing Godsmack, with performances spanning April 1999 through October 2026.
During those years, I’ve watched them at the long since gone Super Toad Entertainment Center in Des Moines, the sorely missed Pershing Center in Lincoln, KIWR’s Rockfest, Northern Invasion, Baxter Arena in Omaha, and now Pinnacle Bank Arena. That’s an extraordinary journey to witness from the audience and the photo pit.
In the late 1990s, Godsmack were a hungry young band trying to establish themselves in an increasingly crowded hard rock landscape. Their debut album was beginning to find an audience, and nobody could have known exactly how far that momentum would carry them.
Fast-forward nearly three decades, and they’re headlining arenas, commanding massive festival crowds, and performing songs that have become permanent fixtures in rock radio history. That kind of longevity doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from years of touring, consistently releasing music that connects with an audience, and building a relationship with fans strong enough to survive changing musical trends.
And, perhaps most importantly, it comes from continuing to deliver the kind of live performances that make people want to return.
Final Thoughts
The Rise of Rock World Tour’s stop in Lincoln wasn’t about reinventing rock music. It was about celebrating what makes the genre endure.
Dorothy brought an exceptional voice, undeniable presence, and a set that demonstrated just how effectively their music translates to a larger stage.
Godsmack brought nearly 30 years of experience, a catalog of recognizable songs, and enough volume to make the walls of Pinnacle Bank Arena feel as though they were trembling.
For someone who first saw Godsmack in a comparatively small Des Moines venue back at the beginning of their career, to watching them command an arena in 2026 was another reminder of why I’ve spent so much of my life attending and photographing concerts.
Bands grow. Audiences change. Venues get bigger. The music evolves.
But sometimes, when those opening riffs hit and the entire building starts to shake, the feeling is exactly the same as it was nearly 30 years ago.
