Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose recently opened up about the band’s long history of navigating tour lineups, admitting that turning down a spot on the recent Creed reunion tour was a significant miscalculation.
During an interview with Cameron Buchholtz on “Rock 100.5 The KATT FM,” the drummer discussed the tight bond his band shares with Creed and Alter Bridge, as well as the challenges of finding the right crowd for their specific brand of heavy rock.
“The Creed guys and Alter Bridge, those are two of our closest people,” Morgan stated (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Well, they’re both basically the same band, minus the singer and the music, but the members are all similar. We just played with [Alter Bridge] the other night on a one-off, and we did Europe with ’em, and it was the best experience I’ve ever had. Anytime that we’re doing anything with those guys, we’re excited. ’cause those are our boys.”
Despite that friendship, Sevendust famously struggled to win over the audience when they opened for Creed during the Weathered tour over two decades ago. That past trauma ultimately led them to decline an invitation to join the massive recent reunion trek.
“Oh, God. So that whole tour probably cost us not only a lot of money, but a lot of really good experiences, because people back then — it’s a different world now. Heavy music back then was not what it is now,” he continued. “So we kind of fell into this weird area where we were able to play with Creed, kind of, and then we could go and play with Slipknot the next week, kind of. So it was, like, we’re not quite heavy enough for the Slipknot people and we’re definitely too heavy for the Creed people. So we were out with [Creed], and I remember looking and seeing people, and they’re looking at us horrified. [They were thinking], ‘This is the craziest, heaviest s**t in the world.’ And then so we were up to do the tour when they came back on this [latest reunion run].”
When the offer came for the recent reunion, Sevendust had just wrapped a heavy run with Static-X.
“We had just gotten done with Static-X, and I love the guys in that band,” he explained. “Some of those guys are my best friends on earth. But, man, ‘We just got through with this heavy tour. I feel like we’re almost like being accepted back into the heavy world again. I don’t know if this is a good idea. I don’t wanna have people looking at us like they hate us. I don’t want this.’ ‘Cause I just remembered the Weathered tour. So we didn’t do it. And then it ended up being one of the biggest tours of the year.”
The band eventually agreed to play a handful of fill-in dates on the tour, which made them realize how much audience tastes have evolved.
“And then on top of that, they were, like, ‘Well, there’s some shows opening up, if you wanna do a few.’ So we did, and they were massive, and everybody was great. And it was, like, ‘This is not what it was back then.’ So we’re not too abrasive for their crowd anymore. It used to be that, but now it’s, like, yeah, ‘Oh, Sevendust is cool dude.’ And I’m, like, ‘Oh, God, I wish I would’ve done it.’ I was very vocal about it. Some of the guys in my band, I think, still secretly do something to my food when I’m not looking, because they’re pissed about it. But it was a mistake. It was a lesson learned. And we’re excited to do anything with those guys moving forward, for sure.”
While Sevendust has found their modern sweet spot touring alongside acts like Breaking Benjamin and Disturbed, Morgan Rose quickly noted there is a new tier of extreme metal they have zero intention of trying to compete with.
“Well, the thing is that there’s like this middle ground of heaviness now where it can be anything from Breaking Ben or Disturbed and some of the bands that we grew up playing with. But then you can get into some extreme side of things. I was talking to somebody, and I was, like, ‘We played with some bands back in the day,’ and I was like, ‘We were very tough on them,’ because — it wasn’t a thing of any talent or anything. It was just a style clash, where it’s, like, if you got guys that are more aggressive and it’s close enough, it’s gonna cause a problem. Well, so I said, ‘Yeah, we beat up on those bands.’ And then I’m, like, but make no mistake about it. Go sit us in a room with Slaughter to Prevail or Lorna Shore, and it’s, like, we’re gonna take it like an a** beating; it’s just gonna be rough. So there’s some of those places where I’ve got some really close friends in those super-heavy bands, and they might like Sevendust, but I’m, like, ‘You ain’t getting me anywhere near those tours, dude.’ I don’t want any part of Lorna Shore. And literally the drummer is like my baby brother, and I would love to spend every day with him on tour. And I’m, like, ‘You ain’t getting me on that tour with you, dude. I’m not taking it like that.’ So, yeah, there’s still places where I’m, like, ‘Let’s just go ahead and’ — what is it? Like [in the] ‘Step Brothers‘ [movie] where he wants to take a different route home. I’m, like, ‘Let’s take the long way back to where we’re going. I don’t wanna go down that street.’ … I don’t wanna go down that route. We’re too old to be competing with those young bucks like that,” Morgan concluded.
Sevendust is currently preparing to release their fifteenth studio album, One, on May 1 via Napalm Records. The project was recorded at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida, with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette, known for his work with Alter Bridge and Slash.
The band’s U.S. headline tour in support of the record launched on April 16 and will conclude on May 21 in Nashville, Tennessee. The current run features support from Atreyu, Fire From The Gods, and American Adrenaline. Following the tour, Sevendust will make appearances at major rock festivals including Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple.
The band has also announced a comprehensive European and UK headlining run slated for late 2026, giving international fans a chance to experience their notoriously powerful live show.
