LIVE: SHINEDOWN – October 13, 2023

Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena

City: Las Vegas, NV

Dates: October 13, 2023

Review and Photographs by: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur (www.toddstarphotography.com)

As the Revolutions Live tour winds down, I found myself in Las Vegas on business.  I cannot think of a better way to mix business and pleasure than adding a Shinedown concert to the agenda.  On Friday the 13th, you never know what may come your way, but I was fully stoked awaiting the show that included my first time in this venue as well as first time seeing Spiritbox live.  Getting into position with my camera near the soundboard, I braced for what was to come and was happy with the opening of the show as Spiritbox hit the capacity crowd with everything they had and blew us all away.  If tonight’s performance is any indicator, I don’t expect this group to be the opener on many tours moving forward.  After their rousing set, I settled in for what I knew would be an impressive set from Papa Roach.  These guys NEVER fail to deliver a high energy rock show and tonight was no different.  From open to close Jacoby and band brought their A game (let’s be honest – you have to when you are opening for Shinedown).  With lots of friends and family in the house, the smiles and energy on the stage were genuine and undeniable.

After the opening sets, the stage was cleared and the anticipation for what was to come started building immediately.  Kicking the show off with one of my favorites, “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)” the smile on my face was instant and the excitement level kicked in full force.  Brent, Zach, Eric, and Barry did what they do best for the next almost two hours, dragging us along for the ride through most of their catalog and even unturning an unexpected stone or two.  With the end of the cycle for the band’s latest release Planet Zero, there was plenty of new material in the show, beginning with “Dead Don’t Die,” which matched up perfectly with “I’ll Follow You” closing out the opening trio of songs, featuring a ‘flying’ piano and amazing performance from Eric.  Said piano would make another appearance in the show as well.  Kicking things back up, Brent Smith’s powerful vocals led the charge of songs like “State of My Head” and “Devil” while Zach Myers’ guitar work accentuated those and others like “Unity.”  Digging back to their debut release, the guys tore into “45” and capped that with “Enemies” featuring a tight sound that was as powerful live as it is on the recorded version.  My favorite pairing of the evening was the amazing “Sound of Madness” followed by the poignant piano fueled “A Symptom of Being Human” that drew visual emotion from me as well as many around me.  Keeping the new music coming, the band launched into “Planet Zero” and followed that with “Second Chance” which featured some of the loudest crowd singing of the evening.  Barry Kerch kept things anchored and in time, as usual, from behind his drums pounding out thunderous rhythms.  To change things up a bit from previous tours, Smith left the stage and the other guys tossed in a cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle” featuring Zach & Eric on vocals and guitars while their techs joined the fray on guitar, bass, and drums.  After the slight detour from SD music, the quartet jumped back into the set with a cool medley of “Daylight” and “Get Up” before stripping the music down to vocals and guitar for a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.”  As always, the band saved two heavy rockers to take the large crowd out of the venue and into the night with smiles on their faces and songs on their lips as they closed out the show (and one of the final shows on the tour) with “Monsters” and “Cut the Cord.”  With only a couple of days on the tour remaining, there isn’t much chance of catching this show before they retire to their homes and families for the holidays and hopefully some new music sooner after the new year.

Setlist: Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom) – Dead Don’t Die – I’ll Follow You – State of My Head – Devil – Unity – 45 – Enemies – Sound of Madness – A Symptom of Being Human – Planet Zero – Second Chance – The Middle – Daylight / Get Up – Simple Man – Monsters – Cut the Cord

[Show as slideshow]

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Tags: featured

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries