Review: Mike Botello Resurrection Tour April 18 concert
Mike Botello Concert Review (April 18, 2026)
Mike Botello started his Resurrection Tour last fall after almost hanging up the music career. Through the persuasion of his bandmates and prayer, he’s put together a roaring fight to the finish. Tonight’s show was recorded live (audio and video), so fans worldwide can see and hear what they missed on this unusally cold and overcast night.
Opening the show was a Black Sabbath tribute band from the area called War Pigs. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect (especially if they would’ve opened with the self-titled track from the band’s debut album. With a long-haired and fringe-sleeved shirt, the young Ozzy lookalike kept the energy going with an appropriate visual. He’s definitely done his homework with all the leaning forward hand clapping and victorious double peace signs flashed at several moments. It was quite a full and fun show. What metalhead worth his historic salt would not relish in singing so many of Sabbath’s uber heavy riffs at full volume. It was quite a gas and the sound system mix was full-on rocking.
Mike Botello started with a brief video intro on the giant video screen behind the stage. Each song of the set featured the album or single cover with album title reference. The band started off with the chemical addiction commentary tune, “Chasing the Dragon,” which had every bit as much low-end monster heaviness as any of the Sabbath tunes we all just finished hearing. It was massive and it got the show rolling in a “we’re not messing around” direction and mood. Botello briefly mentioned at the end of the song that there was help available and he encouraged anyone struggling with addiction to seek that help.
This brings up another totally professional angle that Botello took throughout the night. Instead of talking between every song and letting the mood die out, whenever he did talk, he always did it under a bed of music that was going on underneath. This kept the well-paced show going smoothly and it felt like one big, intentional show (not just a concert). As a performer, he was moving and as active as a two-edged sword throughout the night, often swiftly moving around the stage for some playful one-on-one interaction with his two capable guitarists, Tony Smith and Jason Barrett. He did the same with drummer Dan Poole as well.
The show had many surprises rolled up in the bands’ sleeves, one of which was hinted at by a large but empty drumset with dozens of pieces set up on stage right. Being a multi-instrumentalist, this reviewer had a good guess of what that was set up for, but it was silently ignored for most of the set, which was full of visuals on screen, movement on stage, and intense, progressive metal music. Metal and prog rock fans and any musicians in the audience had plenty to marvel at from any of the four musicians throughout the nearly two-hour set.
The band banged out lots of tunes from the most recent album, Indigenous, including “I’m Down,” “The Nihilist,” and “Secret Identity.” Botello’s voice was on and both guitarists jammed with proficiency and cool effects (like a wah pedal and a tremolo-like effect that Barrett used). We had haunting atmosphere, lead runs, and furiously pounding drums by Poole.
The other musicians left for a moment when Botello traded his bass for an acoustic guitar. He shared about a vision the Lord gave him of heaven, which inspired the song, “Timeless State,” describing the outside-of-time world in which we will reside in soon. It was cool to hear him throw in vocal lead breaks/comments like, “Imagine that!” as well as laughter as he vocalized the song’s description of the afterlife.
Smith put on a guitar solo that was atmospheric and super melodic. It was easy to imagine him atop a mountain like some guitar wizard, with his flowing silver hair cascading over his shoulders as he leaned into his instrument.
The band shifted gears to cover the first of a few songs from Botello’s previous Austin band, Awake. “The System” was dedicated to its guitarist, Jessie Villegas.
“The Matador,” from the Rule of Law album, was one of the show’s many big highlights or moments where it was easy to get pulled into the music, its message, and its emotion. This one had a fun, rollicking rhythm that prompted Botello to practically skip around the stage in rock and roll joy. It was heavy, but brought smiles to our faces.
After the title track to Rule of Law, Botello unveiled the mystery behind the massive yet empty drumkit. He and Poole battled each other for a thrilling, trilling, and clever drum duel. This unusual tact worked quite well and delivered. It’s risky doing a drum solo, but when it’s done right, the reward is great. This was special and impressive.
“Sunday Faces” and “Creatures” showed off all the talent of each individual member again, which was also timed with band introductions. The band saved two more Awake tunes for the end of the set – “Reconcile” and “Only the Strong Survive.” Both of those tunes sounded as good as ever.
It felt like a Godsend that the rain held back until the show finally ended, which made for a not-so-fun load-out by the band and film crew that documented this show. Due to the song selection, the technical and showmanship delivered, this should be a great live DVD or streaming product. It should only help to increase the audience and appreciation of this heavy art.
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