The day was hot and humid but it didn’t really matter due to the fact that I was going to see Shinedown and Godsmack, two of my favorite bands. Read Godsmacks review in our September 2018 Issue. This review will concentrate on Shinedown’s performance.

The show started with the opening act Like a Storm, a hard rock band from New Zealand which was formed by the brothers Chris, Matt & Kent Brooks. They are an amazing band and I was in total awe as I watched the lead singer, Chris Brooks, play the didgeridoo while showing off his great vocals. Who would have thought that hard rock and the didgeridoo would go so well together? It was the perfect start to a great evening and an even better atmosphere.

After such a great start and warm up, everybody was ready for Shinedown to make their appearance. The band started out with one of their older songs “Sound Of Madness” which was a great choice to get the audience fired up, but fully grabbed their attention. It’s a song with the right amount of attitude. Then they continued with more attitude and smoothly transitioned into the song “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)” and after the song was over, lead singer Brent Smith, greeted the audience and had everybody in the audience say hi and shake hands with the person standing next to them. I think it was a great thing to do and created a tighter bond between the crowd and the band, because it no longer felt like you were standing beside a stranger, creating a more relaxed experience. The next song the band played was “Cut the Cord”. Then, Shinedown surprised the crowd with “If You Only Knew” which was not part of the planned set list. Brent Smith dedicated this song to all of the ladies. Next was “Bully” from their album Amaryllis followed by a new song “Get Up” on their newly released album Attention Attention. The crowd loved it and as I looked around, people were singing and dancing along. Then the band played “Enemies”, “Unity”, “State Of My Head”, followed by “Second Chance” and “Simple Man”. When performing “Simple Man”, Brent went off stage and went through the audience in the upper part of the Amphitheater to be closer the fans in the back. Everybody in the upper section cheered and loved the idea of the singer performing in this area. It was a very beautiful performance with just an acoustic guitar as everybody sang along while cell phone lights illuminated the outdoor amphitheater. I would say we had the right ingredients to create a magical moment. After such magic, it was time for some rocking out to their last song for the night and what song could have been better for it then “Devil”, The band started out with high energy and they finished with high energy. It was such a fun show and I was sad that it was over so quickly, but at the same time I was excited for Shinedown.

Shinedown set list:

• Sound Of Madness
• Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)
• Cut The Cord
• If You Only Knew
• Bully
• Get Up
• Enemies
• Unity
• State Of My Head
• Second Chance
• Simple Man
• Devil

Shinedown

Zoo Amphitheater Oklahoma City-OK

Reviewed by: RacerX – BackStage360

Email: Michelle@backstage360.com