Skillet concert set for Spencer

(Photo submitted) The Clay County Regional Events center has booked Grammy-nominated band Skillet for a May 3 concert. Tickets are available at the Events Center Box Office or through Ticketmaster. Fellow rockers Disciple and Decyfer Down will join them on the tour.

The two-time Grammy nominated band Skillet has included a Spencer stop as it launches the second leg of its "Comatose" tour this spring.

Joining them on the tour will be fellow rockers Disciple and Decyfer Down. The Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer will be the venue on Sunday, May 3. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m.

"We were excited we could get the deal done to bring Skillet to the Regional Events Center," said Scott Hallgren, General Manager for VenuWorks at the Clay County Regional Events Center. "This will be our third national touring Christian show. Skillet has a strong following in our region, and we have been talking with them for a year now about a concert date. We have worked hard to bring solid national touring Christian shows into northwest Iowa and have had good support for tobyMac in October, 2007, and Third Day on March, 2009."

Tickets went on sale Thursday and are $19.50 advanced, $23.50 day-of-show, and $16.50 for groups of 15 or more. Customers can purchase tickets through the Events Center's Ticket Office (open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. -- 4 p.m.), online at www.ticketmaster.com, charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000, or at all Ticketmaster outlets.

"Comatose" tour promoters say Skillet will bring concert of classic rock riffs, swirling drums, monstrous hooks, and catchy choruses. The band incorporates hints of old school progressive rock with modern alternative flourishes mixed in. The band's style also incorporates touches of classical influence.

"We're pumped up and ready for this tour to get started," said Skillet front man John Cooper. "I personally have wanted a tour with Disciple for several years now and I think it's going to be an awesome tour package. We have been working incredibly hard on this new record, so we are also looking forward to playing some new material for everyone."

Skillet was a 2008 Gospel Music Association Artist of the Year nominee and the group's 2006 Grammy nominated release, "Comatose" followed 2004's "Collide," which launched the group into the public eye.

"Comatose" has become their best-selling project to date. In follow-up to packed out headline club shows, a tour with FlyLeaf, and summer festivals, Skillet spent the fall of 2007 opening for mainstream rockers Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace.

"Rebirthing," the first single on Comatose," spent seven-weeks at No.1 on Christian Rock, while their five follow up singles all rose to No. 1 as well. Their single for the title track received a 2008 GMA Dove Award for "Rock Song of the Year," as well, and at the end of 2007 the band was named the No. 2 top artist on both CHR and ROCK radio year-end lists, and in 2008 named R&R's Top CHR Artist of the Year for 2008. Since R&R began publishing Christian radio charts, Skillet has garnered more No. 1 songs from one recording than any other artist in the industry, with their six consecutive radio hits.