Tonight’s Buckcherry concert was my first time attending a show at The Sun Patio at Mohegan Sun Casino. Usually, I would be in their beautiful arena or the Wolf Den, which is surrounded by the casino floor and hosts free concerts.
Buckcherry
Sun Patio at Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Connecticut – 14 June 2025
Words And Photography: Jody Wilk
This newer concert area is outside and has standing room only in front of the stage with bar tables and patio tables off to the sides on astroturf. Calling it a patio does it no justice, as it is very much like an oasis. Concerts here are hosted rain or shine, as much of the area is covered.
Fans started lining up early to make sure they would be able to get right to the front of the stage. The doors opened at 7:30 pm, and fans got their drinks and began socialising with friends.
Having just released their eleventh album, Roar Like Thunder, a few days earlier, I was excited to see if Buckcherry would be playing more than just a few songs that they had been playing the last bunch of dates.
I purchased the new album and headed out to the show, listening to it on the ride up. Roar Like Thunder has a great throwback feel to it. It made me feel like I was headed to a concert back in the day listening to my favourite band from the ’80s or ’90s and whetted the appetite for tonight’s album release show.
A retro guitar vibe and catchy riffs topped off with Josh Todd’s unique vocals make for a great bunch of songs that are all keepers on the album. “We made a point on this record to have no ballads and no cover songs,” Todd has said. “Roar Like Thunder kicks ass, and that’s pretty much it.”
Buckcherry took to the stage on the Sun Patio spot on 9:00 pm with a Roar. The fast, catchy riff and drum beat of Roar Like Thunder was the perfect way to get the crowd pumping their fists, tapping their feet, and getting revved up for a night of Buckcherry classics with a few songs from the new album mixed in. 
Josh Todd, the only original member of the band, always commands attention as any frontman should. With his tattoo-covered torso, powerful vocals, and frequent use of explicit lyrics, he gets the crowd singing and chanting along.
These guys always provide a true rock show experience in every sense of the word. Stevie Dacanay always puts on a show for the fans while ripping it up on lead guitar. Kelly LeMieux brings the bass to life and graces the stage with a smile.
On the drums since 2019, Francis Ruiz has worked with some of the best drummers in the industry, and it really shows. Jetboy founding member Billy Rowe is the newest addition to Buckcherry and has been playing rhythm guitar for them since 2020.
Buckcherry had the crowd singing along to all of their classics like Lit Up, So Hott, and Somebody Fucked With Me. From the new album, we had Set It Free, Come On, as well as the title track.
Shortly after So Hott, Josh and Stevie both removed their shirts, revealing their heavily tattooed bodies. The only change in the setlist from the prior show was they replaced Bent with Keep On Fighting from 2023’s Vol. 10.
A pulsating set ended with a medley of Crazy Bitch, Sex Machine, Irresistible Bitch, and Proud Mary.
Live, Buckcherry are as Buckcherry do. Shirtless, covered in tattoos, screaming rock’ n’ roll to the sky and never letting that ball drop. Roar Like Thunder set that energy off like a bottle rocket in the studio.
As Stevie Dacanay, guitarist and co-writer, says, “It’s the pure, uncut, rock’n’roll music you’ve been jonesing for.”
Roar Like Thunder is available via Earache Records in the UK and Europe or via roundhill.ffm.to/bc-roarlikethunder-album.
You can catch Buckcherry on tour throughout the United States through the end of August, and if I had to guess, there will be much more to come.
