Live Words and Photos: DJ
Shinedown has certainly come a long way since its debut in 2003, with “Leave a Whisper” and hard to believe it’s been 20 years since that album came out. Brent Smith was cognizant of this live this night as he made a point to mention that on stage. The Revolutions Live tour kicked off on April 3rd in Saginaw, MI, and made it to Huntsville, AL on April 19th. A middle-of-the-week show is always hard to imagine especially getting good crowds, that is unless you are a successful Rock band like Shinedown. What looked like a pretty packed house this evening at the Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center, the guys alongside openers From Ashes to New and long-time touring partners Three Days Grace were ready to deliver the goods live.
First off From Ashes to New kicks things off quickly bringing their blend of Hard Rock, Hip-Hop, Electronic, and Alternative music as the first opener. The duo vocals of Matt Brandyberry and Danny Case work well in their deliveries, and the music while Modern Rock/Metal deals with tough social and personal issues that we face as humans. The guys always try to bring a positive vibe to their performance, and I think the fans truly connect with them on stage. Always delivering a message of your potential and positivity, that goes a long way for the younger generation. The guys put on a great show with tunes like “Nightmare” and “Panic” being close favorites. Make sure you catch their new album dropping July 28th, titled “Blackout”.
Next, we get Canadian rock veterans Three Days Grace. The last time we saw them in Huntsville, they opened for Godsmack at this same arena a few years ago. They are back here again, and tonight there would be some surprises that most fans didn’t expect. Singer Matt Walst usually bring his intense live presence live every time they play, and this night is no different. The guys have a pretty long list of hitmakers through the years and they play a bunch of them with “So Called Life”, “Pain” and “I Hate Everything About You”. But the real deal here is the very special surprise guest that comes on stage with them, their original singer Adam Gontier has been invited to help the guys on stage sing “Riot” and “Never Too Late from their 2006 record ‘One-X”. This was pretty unexpected and a real treat for the longtime fans of the band. Adam has his own band Saint Asonia, and in recent months has talked about possibly making music with Three Days Grace in some form or fashion, well surprise surprise. Nice show put on by the veteran rockers.
The stage gets readied for Shinedown to put on their high voltage pyro set, which includes a piano that gets brought down to the stage during the set among other things. Shinedown by now has a long history of successful mega Rock hits, you can add a few of the songs of their new record “Planet Zero” to their rock-solid setlist. Those tunes would get played here in “Dead Don’t Die”, with “Planet Zero” and “A Sympton of Being Human” being performed as well. Frontman Brent Smith is always charismatic and makes a point to speak to the crowd about how much they appreciate their fan base. Again these themes are all part of their very human and organic performance, these guys aren’t here to portray any image, they sing about real things that we all experience. And the fans connect with those themes intimately. A special shoutout to bass player Eric Bass as he tickles the ivories on the piano for “I’ll Follow”, a cool moment also when guitarist Zach Myers climbs on top of the piano for his guitar solo parts.
Some of their classic all got played with fury precision, such as “State of My Head”, “Sound of Madness”, “Devil” and “Monsters”. It’s always cool to hear the Skynyrd classic “Simple Man”, last time they played here, it was performed as well.
Endless accolades never stop the guys from projecting something they are not, they always bring it back and give it back to the fans. Despite any opinions on how some feel about their last record and its themes, Shinedown has more than established itself as one of the premier Rock acts in the genre, and there is not any evidence of that ending any time soon. You already know if you can catch them live on tour, is a guaranteed high quality of music you will bear to witness live.
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