MESA, AZ – The multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Christian metal rock band Skillet, is said to have gotten their name from the pastor at their Tennessee church, who said they blended together so many musical backgrounds and influences that it was like mixing ingredients in a southern friend skillet dish.

The pastor knew whereof he spoke. Fans were reminded of Skillet’s ability to harmonize with divergent elements when the band embarked on an 18-city coheadline USA tour with SEETHER. Like Skillet, the legendary band from South Africa has an impressive track record, notching three platinum and two gold albums, as well as 22 No. 1 singles. But despite their similarities, the two groups, which hail from cities over 8,000 miles apart, also come from different places musically.

Nevertheless, Skillet’s raucous mix of anthemic rock and inspirational messaging blended perfectly with SEETHER’s darker grunge infused sound. The result was a tasty “skillet mix” of a show.

At the two bands’ stop at the Mesa Amphitheatre this divergent, but beautifully balanced musical mix was supported by a vibrant colorful light show created by the John Garberson and the Creative Backstage team.

Featuring 24 CHAUVET Professional Rogue R2 Wash fixtures, the lightshow relied on dramatic color changes, often involving monochromatic palettes to reflect the widely varying tone of the music. Much of the mood of the show was driven by shifting colors rather than rapid movements, the better not to distract from the very active stage personas of the two bands.

Garberson and his team artfully blended the colors of their lighting fixtures with those on the stages backdrop — four video panels in the case of Skillet, and a large curtain for SEETHER. Subtle atmospherics added to the immersive effect by blurring the boundary between the backdrop and the stage.

For those moments when the bands engaged the big crowd (of which there were many), Garberson relied on his 10 STRIKE 4 fixtures, which were arranged across the downstage and upstage truss structures.

The STRIKE fixtures got a good workout during singalongs, such as when SEETHER invited fans to join them in belting out their hit “Fine Again.” The song was the band’s first to chart in the US at the start of this century. Much has happened to the band and their coheadliners (who were formed in 1996), since that time. All of it was on display at Mesa in this show’s delightful, multi-faceted and endlessly entertaining mix.