Post-holiday depression was not in abundance on Friday, December 30, as Shinedown performed their last show of 2023 to a jam-packed, sold-out crowd at the Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. This show differs from the rest of the band’s fall tour as they have mainly been in arenas but decided to have a one-off show in a smaller, more intimate venue to close out the 2023 calendar year.
Shinedown consists of Barry Kerch on drums, Eric Bass on the bass guitar and piano, Zach Myers on guitar, and Brent Smith on lead vocals. Kerch and Smith are the only two members left from the founding lineup which released their debut record, Leave a Whisper in 2003.
As Outkast’s “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” blasted through the speakers, fans settled into their red cushioned chairs as the house lights dimmed. The relaxation didn’t last long as all four members ran out on stage, greeted the audience, and blasted into “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)” off of 2008’s The Sound of Madness as the crowd jumped out of their seats with a thunderous cheer.
From the first riff, fans were in for a treat as the show was not shaping out to be like any regular casino show. One thing that has enhanced Shinedown’s live performances is their use of pyrotechnics/explosives, and their stage setup which gives fans exactly what they want. Though on a smaller scale, Shinedown was able to wow the sold-out crowd and make their last show of the year an unforgettable one.
Shinedown played a total of 17 songs that lasted just under two hours of post-grunge hard rock that made the band so popular. Throughout the show, in between commanding the crowd with an iron fist as all eyes watched Smith run around on stage, he also announced to the crowd that during their set, they were going to play a mix of “old school and new school.” The band pulled out songs from their entire discography from the debut aforementioned Leave a Whisper album to their newest release, 2022’s Planet Zero.
Touring as a musician can be tough but Shinedown put in a lot of work on stage. For the entirety of the two hours that they played, they were constantly running around. The band’s presence on stage is inspiring. Each member of the band interacts with the crowd differently yet at the same time, they work together as one delivering and making sure the fans get their pennies worth. When all was said and done, it felt like the band ran a marathon after all the moving they did on stage. By the end of the show, the band was dripping in sweat just showing the dedication to their fans to make sure they went home happy.
At multiple points in the show, the band got into a deep groove. At the end of “45,” Myers stood on the body of his red, white, and blue guitar and played with his feet as the song came to a close. At another point in the show, the band was headbanging in unison that would even make the most hardcore headbanger smile.
At the end of their smash hit song, “Second Chance,” the band stopped the show to present a birthday cake and sing “Happy Birthday” for one of the members of their crew. The celebrations did stop there as during the show, the president of Foxwoods Casino came out announcing that from the meet and greets, they were able to raise $92,600 for the City of Hope charity. At the same time, the band was gifted plaques to commemorate all their songs to go No. 1 and reach the top five and 10 on the charts.
On top of the band performing their classic songs, they were also able to squeeze a couple of cover songs into the setlist for the show. With Myers on lead vocals, the band, minus Smith performed “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World as well as their bone-chilling rendition of “Simple Man,” by Lynyrd Skynyrd performed by just Smith and Myers. With the help of the crowd belting out the chorus, the theater rang loud of the classic Lynyrd Skynyrd tune.
As fans left the Premier Theater back out to the casino floor, they left with eardrums ringing and faces melted from the sheer magnitude of Shinedown’s show. As 2023 creeps towards an end, fans already made their 2024 concert plans to catch Shinedown on their next tour after witnessing an arena-level show in a small yet intimate theater that made everyone in the last row feel like they were upfront.
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
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