SHINEDOWN – THREE DAYS GRACE – FROM ASHES to NEW – LIVE
By Joe Perusse
April 7th was a date on my calendar I had been looking forward too for a few reasons. It was the start of spring break from my teaching job as well as the day Shinedown was hitting Bridgeport on their “The Revolutions Live Tour”. Three Days Grace and From Ashes to New came along as supporting acts and I’m a fan of all three.
From Ashes to New led off the night with a quick 7 song set. Starting with “Nightmare” and ending with “Through It All”. The vocals of lead singer Danny Case and rap vocalist Matt Brandyberry were strong throughout. I did feel sorry to lead guitarist Lance Dowdle and drummer Mat Madiro as, in my opinion, the sound guy was having difficulty dialing in the musical part of the set.
Three Days Grace was up next and the crowd was close to capacity well before the headliner. The band loaded ten hits into a 45 minute set. Entering the stage to “So Called Life” the band roared through “I Am Machine”, “Animal I Have Become”and “Pain”. Guitarist Barry Stock broke out the double neck for “The Good Life” and vocalist Matt Waist grabbed a guitar to join on “Home”.
“I Hate Everything About You” seemed to resonate with tonight’s crowd and had the most phones out filming I had seen so far, even mine. “Painkiller” and “Never Too Late” followed and “Riot” closed out the set with the crowd pumped up for Shinedown. Brad Waist (Bass )and Neil Sanderson (Drums) round out the bands lineup. An unwelcoming theme was developing though as I thought the music sounded off for a good part of the set.
The light went down for Shinedown and there was a video intro leading into opening song “Diamond Eyes”. The band wasted no time with the pyrotechnics as Zach Meyers (Guitar) played his solo during the song with a fountain of fireworks shooting off behind him. Before leading into “Dead Don’t Die” lead singer Brent Smith made sure to let the crowd know he couldn’t hear them, getting louder cheers each time. “
“I’ll Follow You” had Eric Bass (Bass) playing the piano, which came down to the stage from the ceiling, and Meyers up on top of the piano for a quick guitar solo. Meyers asked the crowd if we were alive before his intro to “Bully” which was followed by “Unity” and cool video of back stage scenes and live shows.
Barry Kerch (Drums) led the charge into “If You Only Knew”. Smith had the crowd swinging their arms back and forth for almost the entirety of “State of My Head”. He then told the crowd they were the only Connecticut people he wanted to be with tonight so they better jump when he says to. “Enemies” followed with fireballs everywhere on stage. Bass jumped back on the piano for “A Symptom of Being Human” switching to acoustic guitar and back to piano during the song.
Smith wanted the crowd to get their hands to the sky for “Sound of Madness” and they happily obliged. “Planet Zero” was next and then Smith reminded everyone the band was turning 20 in May and went back 20 years for “45”. “Devil” had the most pyro of the night until the finale. Kasey Kasem did his Top 40 countdown as a lead in for “Second Chance”.
Band intros were next. Before “Don’t Look Back In Anger”, an Oasis cover sang by Bass and Meyers, we met everyone but Smith, who took this song off. He was introduced at the end of the song as he rejoined the stage along with the piano for a “Daylight/Get Up” medley which he began by laying on the piano, singing.
Smith and Meyers remained on stage for a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd “Simple Man”. “Monsters” and “Cut the Cord” finished out the night and booming fireworks sent the happy crowd out into the streets of Bridgeport.
You may be asking yourself, Did the sound guy for Shinedown figure stuff out? In my opinion he did the best job of the night but to me it did seem off more than usual for a band of Shinedown’s stature. It was only the third show of the tour so it could just be working out the kinks. It could be the smaller indoor space of this arena. Regardless I would go again if they came back as I’m sure those enjoying the show with me would agree.
To learn more about Shinedown, Check out the Website!
Follow on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube
Stream music: Spotify / Apple Music / Soundcloud
Purchase: Amazon / Bandcamp / Direct
Views: 131
1 thought on “SHINEDOWN – THREE DAYS GRACE – FROM ASHES to NEW – LIVE”
Comments are closed.
What a great lineup! Sounds like it was a very enjoyable show despite the little sound glitches.