October 3, 2026 – The Wellmont Theatre, Montclair NJ
Review by Chris Yates // Photography by Estelle Massry
Skillet Brings the Fire to The Wellmont on “Comatose” Anniversary Tour
Twenty years is a long time in rock ’n’ roll. Bands disappear. Trends die. Records that once felt massive become footnotes. Yet twenty years after Comatose helped cement Skillet’s place among the biggest names in hard rock, Skillet has clearly decided they aren’t interested in any of that and demonstrate that twenty years is no excuse to slow down.
Opening the evening, The Protest came out swinging. The Indiana hard-rock band delivered a compact, high-energy set built around chunky guitar riffs, muscular vocals and a distinctly modern-rock attack. They didn’t play like a band waiting for its turn. They played like a band trying to steal the room. The result was an opening set that accomplished exactly what it needed to: get the crowd moving and turn the volume knob toward maximum.
Autumn Kings followed with a more melodic approach, mixing alternative-rock hooks with heavier guitar-driven moments. The band’s biggest strength was its ability to balance accessibility with enough muscle to fit comfortably on a Skillet bill. Their performance had polish, energy and plenty of hooks, and they proved to be an effective bridge between The Protest’s heavier attack and Skillet’s full-scale production. By the time Autumn Kings left the stage, the room was ready to explode.
Two decades after Comatose turned the band into one of the biggest names in modern hard rock, Skillet stormed into The Wellmont Theater and delivered a performance that was exactly what the title promised: a ferocious, high-energy celebration of two decades of songs, sweat and stadium-sized rock squeezed into the intimate confines of one of New Jersey’s most historic concert rooms. The “Comatose 20 Years, Still Screaming Tour” was loud, aggressive, theatrical and relentlessly energetic, a full-throttle reminder that Skillet still knows exactly how to hit a room where it hurts.
From the opening blast of guitars, the stage was engulfed in light, smoke and movement. The crowd responded immediately, turning the floor into a bouncing mass of bodies as frontman John Cooper stalked the stage with his bass in hand and a growl in his voice. He wasn’t simply singing songs; he was constantly pulling the audience deeper into the performance.
Cooper remains one of hard rock’s most recognizable frontmen because he doesn’t simply stand at a microphone and sing. He attacks. Every lyric comes with a physicality that makes the performance feel more dangerous, while his interaction with the crowd repeatedly pushed the energy higher. At one point throughout the evening Cooper addressed the crowd as if to communicate that they are the same, “we are one”. It was a moment that ignited the audience as if they felt “he gets me.” Cooper went on to say, “It doesn’t matter where you come from, what language you speak what color your skin is, how much money you make, what you believe about politics, or what you believe about religion, music brings people together from all different kinds of places, makes us feel a bit better in a world gone crazy. There’s a lot of stuff I would give up before I would give up music I will promise you that.” Then the room erupted!
And when Cooper wasn’t commanding the room, drummer Jen Ledger was practically detonating behind the kit. Ledger is one of Skillet’s greatest live assets and an extremely effective visual centerpiece. Perched behind an elevated kit, Ledger attacked every song with precision and power while contributing her distinctive vocals. Her combination of drumming and singing remains one of Skillet’s secret weapons, particularly when her voice cuts through the heavier sections of the band’s sound. Her drumming is explosive, precise and powerful, but it’s her ability to step out from behind the kit and deliver soaring vocals that makes her presence particularly compelling. When her voice and Cooper’s collide, Skillet’s songs take on an extra dimension that separates them from countless other modern hard-rock acts.
Wife and guitarists Korey Cooper supplied the artillery accompanied by a powerful Seth Morrison. Korey and Seth supplied the wall of guitars that made the night feel considerably larger than the Wellmont’s capacity. The result was classic Skillet: heavy enough for the metal crowd, melodic enough for mainstream rock fans and theatrical enough to make every song feel like an anthem. The guitars were thick, crunchy and enormous, creating the kind of sonic wall that made the Wellmont feel significantly larger than it actually is. Every riff landed with enough force to rattle the room.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album Comatose, the performance delivered an emotional component that went beyond simply revisiting an older record. Songs like “Rebirthing,” “The Last Night,” “Better Than Drugs,” “Those Nights” and “Comatose” sounded as powerful now as they did when the album first connected with a generation of listeners. The album remains one of the defining records in Skillet’s catalog, and hearing its songs performed live in 2026 made one thing immediately apparent: these aren’t simply songs people remember. They’re songs people still feel.
Thousands of voices (or at least it felt like thousands inside the packed Wellmont) rose together during the choruses. For some, these weren’t simply Skillet songs. They were songs attached to specific periods of their lives; music that accompanied high school, relationships, struggles, faith, loss and everything in between. Watching an entire theater erupt into the chorus of “Comatose” made that connection impossible to ignore. That’s where Skillet’s staying power becomes obvious. Their fans don’t passively listen. They participate.
The band’s music has always occupied an interesting space between hard rock, alternative metal and Christian rock, but live, those distinctions become almost irrelevant. Skillet’s songs are built around massive choruses, crushing riffs and emotional hooks designed to be shouted back from the crowd. In a live setting, the formula works.
The production amplified that effect. Visually, the production was built around the same philosophy as the music: bigger is better. Blinding lights, bursts of color, smoke and dramatic backlighting transformed the relatively compact stage into an arena-sized production. Every major musical hit seemed to arrive with a corresponding visual punch. Strobes sliced through the darkness. Giant washes of light transformed the stage from one song to the next. Smoke and atmospheric effects added another layer of drama, while the band’s constant movement kept the visual side of the show almost as aggressive as the music.
There was never much opportunity to breathe. And that was the point. From the opening notes through the final songs, the Wellmont crowd remained completely engaged. There was no separation between performer and audience; Skillet played, the crowd responded, and the energy kept building. That’s ultimately what makes Skillet such an effective live band. They understand that hard rock isn’t just about volume. It’s about connection.
Skillet’s message on this tour is simple: Comatose may be 20 years old, but the band is nowhere near finished. They’re not looking backward. They’re still screaming!
For more info please visit: http://www.skillet.com