Coming out to a moderately sized crowd of about 1,700, Saliva took the stage watched as the mosh-pit erupt early on to new tracks, such as the bluntly titled “F—All Y’all,” and the early nu-metal tinged track “Superstar.” Lead singer Josey Scott seemed pretty impressed with the fan’s enthusiasm as the moshers slipped and slid all over the wet hardwood floor at the State as the crowd kept the moshing throughout most of the set.

Most of the band’s newer material did fare as well. “Broken Sunday” had a edge to it that made it stand out from the rest of the new tracks, but most of the other new tracks proved that Saliva’s most entertaining tunes may be behind them.

But it was a portion of the older material that held up the best for the band. The group’s first true ballad, the Nikki Sixx penned “Rest In Pieces,” still sounds honest and enjoyable as when first listened to. The down-south hard rocker “Survival of the Sickest” and the metal crunch of “Click, Click, Boom” works out to be the songs that actually hold up the best in the pits, as evident by the people being walked out by EMT’s during the song. Though, it would have been advised to leave the latter of the two songs until the very end.

The band’s encore was pretty predictable, with the lousy and possibly worst new track “Ladies and Gentlemen,” which was redeemed with the band’s signature hit “Always.” But without playing the band’s first single, “Your Disease” seemed to have left a hole in the show and missed something.

The Memphis band has always been a reliable live band, but as witnessed by the new material from their latest album Blood Stained Love Story album, Saliva just may be on the start of their downturn.