Photos and review by Merideth C.

For the first show in their “Big Band, Small Bar” series, US 12 Bar and Grill brought in Fuel with special guest Critical Bill. Critical Bill is a local Rap/Rock band with a lot of energy who loves getting the crowd involved in their show.

The headlining act, Fuel, is in the middle of touring in support of their new album “Puppet Strings.” The series is called “Big Band, Small Bar,” but in the US 12 bar Fuel sounded huge. I covered their show a few years back in Mount Clemens, but that show didn’t come close to this one. Seeing a band with so many hit songs you know in an intimate venue is impossible to beat. The current lineup of the band is Brett Scallions on vocals and guitar, Former Shinedown bass player Brad Stewart, Andy Andersson on lead guitar, and Shannon Boone on drums. Boone is a Detroit native who used to play drums Puddle of Mudd. I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to get a good photo of him, but the crowd was too packed for me to move.

The 90 minute set was a perfect mix that included all of their hits, like “Bad Day,” “Falls on Me,” “Shimmer,” and the show closer “Hemorrhage.” They also played several songs from their new album, including “Cold Summer,” “Headache,” and “Puppet Strings.” The crowd was singing along with all of the hits and really seemed to be into the new music. In between songs, Scallions said he needed some Jameson and the crowd responded by passing a half dozen shots up to him. Throughout the entire set the crowd and band fed off of each other’s energy. Every time they played a hit song it seemed like the energy went up another notch.

If you were ever a fan of Fuel, but lost track of them over the years, now is the time to give them another listen and try to catch them live. They sound as good as ever and their new music is great. I would say to try and see them play in a small venue like US 12, but this was a pretty rare event. This was a truly spectacular show!

Don’t forget to “like” us on facebook and follow us on twitter for live updates from shows and to see what shows we’ll be covering next!

Set List

Download songs from this set list by clicking the iTunes icon!

1. Untitled
2. Jesus or a Gun
3. Time for Me to Stop
4. Bad Day
5. Puppet Strings
6. Falls On Me
7. Sunburn
8. Shimmer
9. Bittersweet
10. Last Time
11. Empty Spaces
12. Headache
13. Cold Summer
14. Hemorrhage (In My Hands)

Find out more about Fuel

• fuelrocks.com
• Facebook
• @fuelofficial
• Fuel on iTunes: