Whole Damn Mess will open the show!\ \ Throw out any preconceived notions you may have about who CANDLEBOX is. Wolves, the band’s seventh album which debuted at #7 on the Billboard Chart, is rife with brutal lyrical honesty and songs that run the gamut from dirty rock stompers to timeless, radio-ready pop-rock tunes. Wolves captures the live energy of a band embracing all its influences and coalescing them down into the most potent form. “These are songs that I love that the band loved. We didn’t stop ourselves from recording anything if we dug it; we allowed each song to dictate to us what it needed musically, instrumentally,” explains singer Kevin Martin. Wolves is a modern rock album that also contains “that really sparkly acoustic, Radiohead kind of dreamy guitar and ethereal stuff; we pulled from everything that inspired us, from Neil Young to brand-new bands.”\ \ CANDLEBOX teased the upcoming LP in August 2020, releasing Wolves’ energized “Let Me Down Easy,” an aggro, blues-based rocker with a booming bass and edgy guitar riffing. The cut was co-written with old Seattle pal Peter Cornell, Chris Cornell’s older brother. As for the vibe: Martin knew he “wanted that song to feel and sound like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.”\ \ In 2021 came “My Weakness.” The pop-tastic gem is “kind of guttural and like ‘The Summer of ‘69’ and Bruce Springsteen tunes; it’s one of those love songs where you can feel the band just wants to take off with you the whole time.” Reminiscent of chart-topping ‘80s pop-rock that has stood the test of time, Martin knows that “My Weakness” may be perceived as a departure for CANDLEBOX. But that’s the point.\ \ Working with producer Dean Dichoso in Los Angeles’ legendary Henson Studios for Wolves, Martin’s goals included creating a “different record for CANDLEBOX. I don’t want to fall into bad habits like overthinking in the studio. Dean and I had long conversations about music and songs, about what inspired me on albums like Neil Young’s Rust