Shinedown at Huntington Center in Toledo, OH

Shinedown wows fans with a show to remember on The Revolution’s Live Tour with support from The Pretty Reckless and Diamante.

Opening the show is vocalist Diamante from Boston, who takes the stage in a glittering silver outfit. Kicking it off is the song “Ghost Myself” from her American Dream album. She immediately makes use of the large stage, working it from end to end, side to side, and using the riser up front. A blower underneath sends her hair flying while she belts out the song. She seems to be having as much fun as the crowd as she smiles throughout the whole set. Next is the song “Haunted” from her 2018 album Coming in Hot that many in the crowd seem to know. That is followed by several songs from American Dream including the title track, “Serves You Right,” and the Goo Goo Dolls’ classic “Iris.” That gets the fans singing along. She wraps up her set with two of her heavier songs, “Sleepwalking” and “War Cry.” It is a great set to get the fans warmed up for the bands to come.

Up next is hard rock band The Pretty Reckless featuring vocalist Taylor Momsen. The band starts playing “Loud Love” by Soundgarden before Taylor takes the stage. It is a slower, grungier song that finds her whipping her hair around between singing. Eventually, she begins to work the whole stage as she struts and skips along and plays up to the crowd, including using the riser up front. Following “Since You’re Gone,” they play the title track from the latest album Death by Rock and Roll which features some great guitar work by Ben Phillips.

For those who are not familiar with Taylor, she is also an actress who was in the TV series Gossip Girl and also several movies including playing Cindy Lou Who in the 2000 movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She has come a long way since then with four albums and many hit songs and awards.

The set tonight features songs from all four of those albums including “Only Love Can Save Me Now,” “And So It Went,” “Make Me Wanna Die,” “Going to Hell,” and “Heaven Knows.” During “Make Me Wanna Die,” Taylor drops to her knees at one point and belts out the vocals while the band, including bassist Mark Damon and drummer Jamie Perkins, provides some great jamming. Taylor also engages the crowd during “Going to Hell” to repeat back to her while they also put their horns up. They close out their set with “Take Me Down” which has Taylor also playing guitar. Before leaving the stage, she tells the crowd, “We love you so much.” The fans respond with a great round of applause and cheers.

The lights go down and an introduction video plays with images of the members of Shinedown. Eventually, the screen parts and the band members walk out on the runway to huge cheers. Manning their instruments, they kick it off with a rocking brand new song, “The Saints of Violence and Innuendo.” It has the fans fired up early.

Shinedown has once again outdone themselves with a spectacular stage setup. A large runway extends out into the crowd on the floor. At the end are smaller platforms that extend out on either side, making a letter “T” shape. Lots of flames shoot out from the stage from several spots along it. Guitarist Zach Myers and bassist Eric Bass launch themselves in the air many times during the show and rarely stand still. They, along with singer Brent Smith, make use of the whole stage, moving around it regularly throughout the night, playing up to the crowd much to their delight.

They keep the packed venue rocking with “Devil,” a song that features some explosions just as Brent sings the line “’cause it’s about to get heavy.” Next up is the title track from their forthcoming album Planet Zero, which has been getting plenty of airplay, and they follow it up with “State of My Head.” Their set contains songs from many of their albums including fan-favorite “45” from their debut release Leave a Whisper. It has fans singing along and features some cool lights in the shape of a pyramid.

Brent takes some time to talk to the crowd about every person having a purpose on this planet, that your legend is not built by failure, and that you should not give up. That leads into the song “Get Up” with Eric Bass on piano. It has the crowd putting their hands up and waving side to side. It also features a solid bottom end that has the floor and stands vibrating. “Fly From the Inside” continues the momentum and even has drummer Barry Kerch jumping at one point. During the song, Zach and Brent trade off vocals at mid stage.

Following another fan favorite “Bully,” Brent once again addresses the audience and gets them to take out their cell phones and light up the arena. That leads into the song “Daylight” which has Eric on piano again and features Brent’s soaring vocals. He also leads the crowd in singing “have faith that you’re not alone.” So many of Shinedown’s songs have a message that the fans can relate to and they sing along to just about every song. A highlight of the set is the next song, “Enemies,” which is one of their hardest rocking songs and kicks off with a great guitar, bass, and drum jam.

Shinedown has so many great songs to pull from now with six studio albums and a new one coming July 1, 2022. They tap into four of those albums next with the songs “Cut the Cord,” “Second Chance,” “Unity,” “Monsters,” and “Diamond Eyes.” During “Unity,” the fans follow the lyrics when it hits the line “put your hands in the air.” “Diamond Eyes” really gets the fans amped up as they jump up and down. At one point, the song slows down, only to ignite an explosion that goes well with the chorus of “boom-lay boom-lay boom.” The fans are loving it and show their appreciation throughout the set with huge cheers.

Zach dedicates the next song, “Wheels,” in tribute to the recently departed Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters. They wind down the evening with a few more fan favorites, “Call Me,” “Simple Man,” and “Sound of Madness.” “Simple Man” once again shows off the vocals of Brent. He is one of the best and hardest working rock singers out there today and never fails to deliver.

Once again Shinedown has delivered one of the best shows out there, both musically and with the awesome pyro, lighting, and video. Be sure to catch them on this tour.

SHINEDOWN
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THE PRETTY RECKLESS
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DIAMANTE
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HUNGTINGTON CENTER
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