Jinjer Bring the Heavy to Piedmont Hall

When it comes to press releases and tour announcements unfortunately this one was rather unique.

“Progressive groove metal juggernauts JINJER recently announced that with the support of the Ukrainian Ministry Of Culture, they were granted a special exemption to exit Ukraine in order to help their countrymen the best way they can – through music– and since hit the road.”

With their country still under siege Jinjer and their fellow countrymates in Space of Variations have joined forces with P.O.D. and Malevolence for this leg of their U.S. tour and we were able to catch up with them all on their stop in Greensboro North Carolina.

It was a rainy evening at Piedmont Hall, and for me this was a first time at this venue. The room itself is large and on this night that was a good thing as a large crowd showed up for this evening of hard rock and metal. Taking the stage first as the opening act, Space of Variations were also new to me. They delivered a sound more on the metal core side and brought a ton of energy to the stage.

I was impressed, and since have really enjoyed their latest release, Imago. A power packed set for sure, it concluded with an opportunity for the band to encourage us to love and treasure the only things that matter in life and that is our time with our loved ones. Reflecting on the war in Ukraine the band shared the impact it has had on their lives and expressed their support. For their family and countrymen still there.

Quite the international tour the next band up, Malevolence, are a group from England.

A great follow up set, Malevolence delivered an equal heavy impact leaning a bit more on the hardcore side of the heavy genre.

Another band on the lineup that was new to me, It seemed as if the crowd were quite familiar with many of their songs and really enjoyed the high energy riffs as well as a moment with their most recent single “Higher Place”.

With this track being more of a ballad the band took this chance to get the crowd to raise their phone lights or lighter to sing along, and with a full house this was a nice moment.

A great fit for this tour Malevolence are another band that I will definitely be paying attention to from now on.

The next band on the bill, P.O.D. have been delivering their unique blend of hard rock around the world for years.

Hitting the music mainstream in 1999 with their hit “Southtown” the band doubled down on their success with their follow up hits “Alive”, “Boom”, and “Youth of the Nation” from their album Satellite in 2001.

All of these tracks were on the setlist this night at Piedmont Hall and it was a real treat to hear and see these songs performed live.

When this tour was first announced it seemed as if P.O.D. would be a little out of place on this tour as their style of hard rock is not quite as heavy as the rest of the bill but their energy and familiarity to the crowd set the stage for a great performance.

P.O.D. were very engaging, speaking with the crowd and commenting that they were the only American band on the bill elicited a chant of “USA” for a few moments, and adding a nice touch the band brought to the stage a young man from the crowd to hang out on a riser with singer Sonny Sandoval during “Youth of the Nation”.

With a full discography of ten studio albums under their belt P.O.D. had plenty to pull from and it was great to hear the hits and more while catching an act whose music has had a big impact on me.

With the evening turning it’s attention to the headliners the crew cleared the stage and opened up the space preparing the lights and digital backdrops for Jinjer. Seemingly their biggest US tour so far Jinjer have earned their way to these big rooms and I am sure will only continue to demand more as they have proven to be a musical force.

Taking the stage to a great roar singer Tatiana Shmailyuk smiled and settled in as the rest of the band joined her and erupted into their set.

Full of heavy groove Jinjer weave in and out of soft hypnotic tones and brutal barrages of guitar and drums and their energy sent the room into to the highest intensity that we had seen all night.

Jinjer’s set contained the most production of the evening as well and the digital backdrops were a great addition to their performance.

Pulling from their discography Jinjer sprinkled in a great mix of their songs appeasing the fans with “Teacher Teacher!”, “Judgement (& Punishment), and “Who is Gonna Be the One” just to name a few. The pit stayed intense through the duration of their set and for fans of the band I am sure they got what they paid for this evening.

This tour is winding down now and just a few more shows are left for the year here in the US. As the new year begins each of the bands will venture off on their own and Jinjer will be touring heavily in Europe throughout 2023.

If you have the chance to catch any of the acts from this evening I highly encourage you to. I am really glad I got to catch this tour and especially happy to catch this show at Piedmont Hall. This is a great venue and I hope that they continue to book more acts of this caliber and bring more events to the area.

Jinjer Setlist Piedmont Hall, Greensboro, NC, USA, USA 2022

Edit this setlist | More Jinjer setlists

See full gallery of the night here.

Upcoming Tour Dates

USA Tour 2022 w/ P.O.D., Vended, Malevolence & Space of Variations
^No Malevolence
*No Vended

Dec 16 – San Antonio, TX – Aztec Theater*
Dec 17 – Austin, TX – Emo’s*
Dec 18 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues*
Dec 20 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren*
Dec 21 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues*
Dec 22 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern*

EU / UK Tour 2023 w/ Bullet For My Valentine & Atreyu
Jan 29 – COLOGNE (DE) Palladium
Jan 31 – PARIS (FR) L’Olympia
Feb 01 – TILBURG (NL) O13
Feb 03 – WARSAW (PL) Stodola
Feb 04 – HAMBURG (DE) Sporthalle
Feb 05 – BERLIN (DE) Verti Music Hall
Feb 07 – PRAGUE (CZ) Forum Karlin
Feb 08 – MUNICH (DE) Zenith
Feb 10 – BUDAPEST (HU) Barba Negra
Feb 11 – ZAGREB (HR) Bocarski Dom
Feb 13 – ZURICH (CH) The Hall
Feb 14 – MILAN (IT) Alcatraz
Feb 16 – BARCELONA (ES) Razzmatazz
Feb 17 – MADRID (ES) La Riviera
Feb 18 – LISBON (PT) Sala Tejo
Feb 21 – TOULOUSE (FR) Bikini
Feb 22 – ESCH-SUR-ALZETTE (LU) Rockhal
Feb 23 – OFFENBACH (DE) Stadthalle
Feb 26 – BRUSSELS (BE) Ancienne Belgique
Feb 27 – CAMBRIDGE (UK) Corn Exchange
Feb 28 – BRISTOL (UK) O2 Academy
Mar 01 – LIVERPOOL (UK) Mountford Hall
Mar 03 – NEWCASTLE (UK) O2 City Hall
Mar 04 – GLASGOW (UK) Barrowland
Mar 06 – LEEDS (UK) O2 Academy
Mar 07 – BIRMINGHAM (UK) O2 Academy
Mar 08 – SOUTHAMPTON (UK) O2 Guildhall
Mar 10 – SWANSEA (UK) Arena
Mar 11 – LONDON (UK) Roundhouse