Didn't see any wall of death for Black Label, just a big pit, so I now know for myself that the DC area is full of LOG fan posers and just complete idiots who are only there for the mainstream bands and don't know old LOG songs
nah dude, dc has a big log following, its just that its gayhem and most that go are posers. if they were to tour this fall and hit the 9:30 club, itll sell out in advance and have plenty of log diehards
8-7-10 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre - Carnival of Madness
A good omen began my night at DTE at about quarter to 5, when a police man flagged me into the VIP parking entrance of the venue. As a result, I got to park just as close to the venue as I did for Maiden, only a couple hundred feet away from the doors, only this time I didn't arrive super early. Right then, I had the feeling this would be a memorable night. I entered the venue where the second stage area for Mayhem Fest had been about 24 hours earlier at about 10 minutes to 5, just ahead of when the first band was scheduled to take the stage. On the way to the hill, I made a quick merch stop. Other than Shinedown, the merch wasn't very extensive; only one shirt design for every other band. I wanted to pick up a Chevelle shirt, but deciding the design they had wasn't to my liking, I instead bought the Carnival of Madness shirt. It's a shirt with a very simple design, but also the only one with tour dates and all five bands listed on the back. I then quickly made my way up the hill and found a prime viewing location at almost the very center of the lawn. After waiting a few more minutes, the opening band took the stage.
10 Years - My first time seeing this band from Knoxville, Tennessee, and by far the band of which I knew the least material. I became a fan of theirs based on their major label debut, The Autumn Effect, but I hadn't heard any of their work since then, so I was a bit skeptical about how much I would enjoy their performance if they played newer stuff. By the end of their set, however, any doubts I had about their post-Autumn Effect material were gone. They opened with Now Is The Time, a song off their upcoming album, Feeding The Wolves, and it was an immediate attention-getter for me. Though I didn't know most of the songs, they all carried the Tool influence that drew me to the band when I first listened to them. Their music has a lot of light, dripping-like-rain guitar parts with a dark Tool-like atmosphere, with Jesse Hasek providing the vocals, sometimes tense and subdued, sometimes explosive and melodic. The new songs, however, have a good share of heaviness in them, as evidenced by all three of the new tracks they debuted during their set. The best one of the three, in my opinion, was Shoot It Out, the first single from the album, featuring a faster tempo and an intense but quieter chorus, both breaking the usual mold for this band. It was an excellent choice to close their set. Hasek's vocals were on point and as effective as they are on album, as were the rest of the band. Even though a lot of the crowd was still filing in and finding their seats, they did a good job of interacting with them early and often, and by the end of their set, they had the complete attention of those who had shown up to the concert on time. The highlight of their set for me was the only Autumn Effect song they played, Wasteland, which is every bit as heavy and powerful live as it is on album. It made me wish they had played more of their older stuff, but overall, 10 Years provided a stellar beginning to the Carnival and I look forward to seeing them again, ideally playing a longer set. 7/10
Setlist:
Now Is The Time (new) Wasteland Dead In The Water (new) Beautiful Russian Roulette Actions and Motives Shoot It Out (new)
Sevendust - Perhaps the only thing I can really find fault with this lineup is the fact that this Atlanta quintet was next on the bill, and not Puddle of Mudd. Sevendust has double the amount of studio albums, has been a major label band for longer, is probably more popular, and is definitely the better band, yet they're playing second? It doesn't make much sense to me. Either way, they probably wouldn't have played a much longer set, so it's a moot point. All complaints about the billing aside, Sevendust came out and played just as well as they did when I saw them at The Machine Shop in May. They have a great stage presence, and the bigger stage compared to the one in Flint only allowed them to demonstrate it further, as they had much more real estate to work with. After the lighter guitar work of 10 Years, Sevendust's twin guitars and pounding drums hit the audience like a ten-ton hammer. The contrast between the sound of the two was that striking. All 7 songs they played were on the setlist of the headlining gig in May, so there were no surprises there, but that didn't lessen their impact. Their opener, Splinter, is definitely one of my favorite songs from their latest album, and it is an absolute crusher live, with an irregular but effective riff echoed by the drums. Speaking of drums, Morgan Rose was a standout again at this show, and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite drummers to see live. Even though he had dyed his hair and ditched the dreads at this show, he was at the top of his game with the rest of the band, his powerful double bass kicks leading the way on Splinter, and though most of the songs in their set on this day didn't require his help on vocals, his screams on the ones that did, especially the awesome Face To Face, were as great as they were last time, albeit a little lower in the mix this time. Lajon made a point to interact with the crowd, who sadly had to warm up to these guys a bit. "You can love us, you can hate us, but you can't fucking ignore us," he declared a couple times throughout their set. He was incredibly gracious once again, constantly thanking the crowd and reminding them that they're the reason they were playing this show. He is definitely one of the most humble frontmen I've seen, and you can tell it's genuine. Their set was far too short, but they will be back headlining in the fall, so it's all good. To have this amazing band play second speaks volumes about how good this lineup is. Highlights of their set were Splinter, Denial, Angel's Son, Unraveling, and Face To Face. 8/10
Setlist:
Splinter Praise Denial Angel's Son Driven Unraveling Face To Face
Puddle of Mudd - Going into this show, I was pretty skeptical about seeing these guys again. I saw them last in February, when they were direct support for Shinedown, and it wasn't that they were bad, their set just really dragged. Wes was clearly on something, and it took a few songs for anyone to get into their set. This time was much different. When Wes came out and said, "This song is called Control," I could tell he was sober. His demeanor was far different from the performance in February. The difference in the performance was not as stark, but I definitely enjoyed them more this time. Their set didn't drag, possibly due to the mere fact that they had less time to play, but I didn't find them as boring overall. Control cracks me up every time I hear it, and it was no exception this time. The crowd, most of which had finally arrived by now, seemed to be into them from this first song, as opposed to the previous two bands. This was evident on the next song, Livin' On Borrowed Time, when the bassist got the very sizable group jumping in sync, the first of many times this would happen at this show. The song itself was forgettable, however, and far from their best. They made up for this quickly though, following it up with Spaceship, a track from their latest album, Volume 4: Songs In The Key of Love and Hate, and probably one of their best tracks in recent memory in my opinion. Their biggest and best song, Blurry, followed, and was by far the highlight of their set. The verses and chorus gave me chills last time I saw them, and they did the same this time, especially with the crowd sending the last chorus booming through the pavilion. As much as I'm not a huge fan of this band, I can't deny how powerful that song is. The next song, Stoned, was another one from their latest album, and again, it was one of their better songs in recent memory, complete with a Prong reference in the verses (Snap your fingers, snap your neck). The chorus is catchy and was one of my favorites in the set. Just as they did in February, they threw in a cover of AC/DC's TNT, but I didn't like it as much this time around. Even though the crowd enjoyed it immensely and it's a good way to keep everyone interested in the set, I thought the cover itself was boring and didn't suit them very well. Substituting Famous in its place would have been better in my opinion. Thankfully, they made up for it closing with two of their best songs, Psycho and She Hates Me, the latter for which Wes got about 20 or so kids, all seemingly younger than 13, up on stage to clap and sing with him. It was a very funny way to close the set and a nice thing to do for the kids, even though the song itself is not so nice. Overall, I thought Puddle of Mudd's performance improved greatly from the last time they played here. A huge fan I'll never be, but I don't mind seeing them on the bill of lineups such as this. They can certainly hold their own live. 7.5/10
Setlist:
Control Livin' on Borrowed Time Spaceship Blurry Stoned T.N.T. (AC/DC cover) Psycho She Hates Me
Chevelle - Since I saw this trio from Illinois a little over a year ago, this band has quickly become one of my favorites. Going into this tour, I was curious how the crowd would receive these guys, seeing as their style and live show is far different from any of the other bands on this tour, except for 10 Years to an extent. They aren't flashy by any means; they just go out and play, another key difference between them and the other bands. Their stage setup reflected this, with no backdrop whatsoever draping over the huge curtain covering Shinedown's setup. The only notable parts of their setup were a long platform with space artwork on it that Sam's drums were placed on, and some amount of lights, but nothing all that flashy. They didn't need much either, because once they came on, they absolutely crushed. If Sevendust hit the crowd with a ten-ton hammer, Chevelle hit the crowd with a mack truck. Once Pete yelled "Touch!" into the mic to begin The Clincher, the pavilion was filled with a wall of sound. It definitely got the attention of the crowd, many of whom probably didn't know Chevelle as well as Puddle of Mudd. The band's sound was probably the best I've heard them so far, perhaps even better than when I saw them headline in a club last September. Pete's vocals sounded as good as ever, and his screams continue to sound better than they do on the albums. Dean's vocals are nothing to scoff at either, as he easily handled the backup vocal duties on The Clincher. However, the next song, Jars, showed how well Pete and Dean can work together vocally. On the chorus, rather than Pete singing the whole thing with Dean providing backup on some parts, they traded lines of the chorus back and forth between each other, and it worked very effectively without diminishing the quality of the song. In fact, I thought it made the chorus sound better live than it would have had Pete just handled it himself. This change made Jars, a favorite of mine from their latest album, a highlight of the set for me. The band then unveiled a few more surprises on their next few songs, with 5 of their following 6 songs coming off their best album, Wonder What's Next. While a couple of them, such as The Red and Send The Pain Below, were expected, the other three, Forfeit, Family System, and Comfortable Liar, were definitely not. But pleasant surprises they were, as all of them are some of Chevelle's best songs and demonstrate how heavy they can be. I felt that by the time they got to The Red, the crowd had really warmed up to them and started getting into it a lot more than I expected. Family System was even enough to generate the only pits of the entire concert and drew a pretty sizable amount of security to the lawn to watch over it. The Red and Send The Pain Below were definite crowd pleasers, as was their latest single, Letter From A Thief. Sleep Apnea, thrown in the middle of all those Wonder What's Next songs, was still played very well with some of Sam's best drum work. The band also threw in Emotional Drought, a very underrated track from This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In), before capping their set off with the excellent closer, I Get It. Another thing I noticed during the set was that Pete and Dean moved around and worked the crowd more than I've ever seen Chevelle do in the three times I've seen them. When either of them didn't have to sing, they were right up at the front of the stage in the faces of the audience playing. Though they still didn't say a lot to the crowd, I thought this improved their already stellar stage presence. This was, in my eyes, Chevelle's best performance of the three times I've had the pleasure of catching them live. Their set was excellent and full of surprises, their stage presence was great, and musically they were on their A game. Some may call them boring, but I felt they put on the best show of the Carnival to that point. 9/10
Setlist:
The Clincher Jars Forfeit Comfortable Liar The Red Sleep Apnea Send The Pain Below Family System Letter From A Thief Emotional Drought I Get It
Shinedown - The turnaround between Chevelle and Shinedown was very quick, not even lasting a half hour. Not long after 9, Jay-Z's 99 Problems blared over the PA, and I remembered that this was played right before Shinedown came on last time. It's a pretty weird combination, but I suppose 99 Problems is to Shinedown what Doctor, Doctor is to Iron Maiden. Sure enough, shortly after the song finished the lights cut out, the curtain lit up to reveal the silhouettes of the band members, and the opening riff of Sound of Madness cut through the night air to signify that Shinedown was back again. The crowd, which consisted of a nearly sold-out pavilion and a nearly-full lawn at this point, went absolutely crazy as the curtain dropped to reveal a similar setup to what the band had during their last headlining run, but with a couple differences. The back of the set was littered with a bunch of video screens that I don't remember being part of the setup last time, and a big video screen draped at the ceiling, where Iron Maiden had set up their many lights. Brent had embraced the carnival concept in choosing his wardrobe, sporting a carnival ringmaster outfit complete with a top hat and cane. Sound of Madness was awesome as usual, with the mix being spot-on from the get-go. As they did last time, they finished and went right into Devour, a great 1-2 punch that makes me wonder if the tracks should have been in this order on the album, because they flow so well together when played this way. Either way, Devour is one of their better faster songs and went over well live once again. After Brent spoke for a bit, they played a song I had yet to hear live from them: I Dare You. One of their more underrated songs overshadowed by their slew of popular slow songs, I was absolutely ecstatic when they started playing it, and it was done perfectly. Brent's voice was pitch-perfect on every note. On the chorus, which is pretty high in range, he nailed it and it sounded beautiful. It was definitely one of the many highlights of their set. After plowing through Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide, another up-tempo gem where Brent got the entire venue jumping, and If You Only Knew, another one of their beautiful ballads enhanced live by the excellent backing vocals of Zach Myers and Eric Bass, the band pulled another surprise out of their hat. This time, it was a song specially made for the movie The Expendables, entitled Diamond Eyes. Even though most of the crowd hadn't heard the song at this point, it was very easy to get into with the "Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom" parts mixed into the verse. The song itself is excellent as well, with catchy verses and a chorus that is very easy to learn but not overly simple, with Brent really laying it out vocally once again with great success. One could tell how hard he was pushing himself to reach those high notes, but he never sounded strained at all. Placing it in the set was somewhat of a risky move, but it ended up getting a great reception from the crowd and was another welcome change to the set for me. The band followed it up with three more of their hits, starting with the beautiful sing-along .45, where Brent once again displayed himself pushing his vocal range. Heroes, another great up-tempo song with one of my favorite bass intros, followed, then came their latest single, The Crow and The Butterfly. While not one of my favorite songs on The Sound of Madness, it was definitely another successful Shinedown ballad that gave Brent another chance to shine vocally. After they finished that song, the piano was wheeled out, and one would expect that means they were going to play Call Me. Instead, they went into Her Name Is Alice, their contribution to the soundtrack of Alice In Wonderland, a whimsical, subdued track with the usual explosive chorus from Brent. Overall, I probably prefer Call Me, but since I had heard it the previous two times they've played here, I didn't mind them trying this one out, though playing two movie tracks is definitely unusual. Save Me, one of my favorite Shinedown songs, was next, and it translated just as well live, with another nice bass intro and though the vocal parts aren't as impressive as some of their other songs, it's still very powerful. Following this song, Brent explained that the band allowed the fans to choose a Sound of Madness bonus track to be played on this tour. The choice ended up being Son of Sam, definitely the darkest song I've ever heard Shinedown play, both lyrically and musically. I thought it really showcased how heavy Shinedown can be when they want to, and that the track was good enough to make the original album, but probably would not have fit very well. Either way, it was another change of pace for the band and a pleasant surprise for me. The band would make my night, however, with their next song. Brent told a touching story about his grandma and how she died before their first album was released, then asked everyone to show their lighters and cell phones. He then announced the next song would be Burning Bright, probably the song I had most wanted to hear live since I started listening to this band. It is, in my opinion, their best slow song, and the band confirmed this to me by playing it to perfection. It was so beautiful, I definitely got misty-eyed. Another high point of the show for me. As if that wasn't enough, after the song, Brent journeyed out to the walkway in front of the lawn to greet all the poor people and thank them for coming out. Earlier in the review, I talked about Lajon from Sevendust being one of the most humble frontmen I've seen. Brent is in that category as well, constantly showing his appreciation with gestures like this. Once he returned to the stage, he once again led the crowd in jumping in unison as the band closed their main set with another Leave A Whisper track, Left Out. After a brief break, the entire band came to the front of the stage. Brent announced that it was Barry Kirch's birthday, leading the huge crowd in singing Happy Birthday to him, then started up the Simple Man cover with Zach. One of my favorite covers, Brent and Zach really made the song their own, and the occasion of Barry's birthday made it feel even more special. They didn't really extend it as much as last time I saw them, but that was probably for the best. Once they were done, the band returned to their usual instruments and burned through Fly From The Inside, another one of their best songs that showcased everything awesome about this band: Brent's range of vocals, the dynamic contrast in their music, and the stellar backing vocals. After this one, Brent thanked the crowd once again and said this night would be remembered for a long time by the band. They then went into their final song, Second Chance, yet another gorgeous song with Brent pushing his voice to reach those high notes one last time. A perfect end to the perfect hard rock concert and one of the best live performances I've seen by any band, period. 10/10
Setlist:
Sound Of Madness Devour I Dare You Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide If You Only Knew Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom) .45 Heroes The Crow and The Butterfly Her Name is Alice Save Me Son of Sam Burning Bright Left Out ---------------------------------------- Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover) Fly From The Inside Second Chance
This show was everything I had hoped for and then some. Every band was great, and these days that's rare in larger lineups. If this becomes an annual thing, you can be assured I will be there every year. Though the support may never be this good again, Shinedown always delivers and is a treat to see live every time.
Comments
nah dude, dc has a big log following, its just that its gayhem and most that go are posers. if they were to tour this fall and hit the 9:30 club, itll sell out in advance and have plenty of log diehards
I got the setlist though
A good omen began my night at DTE at about quarter to 5, when a police man flagged me into the VIP parking entrance of the venue. As a result, I got to park just as close to the venue as I did for Maiden, only a couple hundred feet away from the doors, only this time I didn't arrive super early. Right then, I had the feeling this would be a memorable night. I entered the venue where the second stage area for Mayhem Fest had been about 24 hours earlier at about 10 minutes to 5, just ahead of when the first band was scheduled to take the stage. On the way to the hill, I made a quick merch stop. Other than Shinedown, the merch wasn't very extensive; only one shirt design for every other band. I wanted to pick up a Chevelle shirt, but deciding the design they had wasn't to my liking, I instead bought the Carnival of Madness shirt. It's a shirt with a very simple design, but also the only one with tour dates and all five bands listed on the back. I then quickly made my way up the hill and found a prime viewing location at almost the very center of the lawn. After waiting a few more minutes, the opening band took the stage.
10 Years - My first time seeing this band from Knoxville, Tennessee, and by far the band of which I knew the least material. I became a fan of theirs based on their major label debut, The Autumn Effect, but I hadn't heard any of their work since then, so I was a bit skeptical about how much I would enjoy their performance if they played newer stuff. By the end of their set, however, any doubts I had about their post-Autumn Effect material were gone. They opened with Now Is The Time, a song off their upcoming album, Feeding The Wolves, and it was an immediate attention-getter for me. Though I didn't know most of the songs, they all carried the Tool influence that drew me to the band when I first listened to them. Their music has a lot of light, dripping-like-rain guitar parts with a dark Tool-like atmosphere, with Jesse Hasek providing the vocals, sometimes tense and subdued, sometimes explosive and melodic. The new songs, however, have a good share of heaviness in them, as evidenced by all three of the new tracks they debuted during their set. The best one of the three, in my opinion, was Shoot It Out, the first single from the album, featuring a faster tempo and an intense but quieter chorus, both breaking the usual mold for this band. It was an excellent choice to close their set. Hasek's vocals were on point and as effective as they are on album, as were the rest of the band. Even though a lot of the crowd was still filing in and finding their seats, they did a good job of interacting with them early and often, and by the end of their set, they had the complete attention of those who had shown up to the concert on time. The highlight of their set for me was the only Autumn Effect song they played, Wasteland, which is every bit as heavy and powerful live as it is on album. It made me wish they had played more of their older stuff, but overall, 10 Years provided a stellar beginning to the Carnival and I look forward to seeing them again, ideally playing a longer set. 7/10
Setlist:
Now Is The Time (new)
Wasteland
Dead In The Water (new)
Beautiful
Russian Roulette
Actions and Motives
Shoot It Out (new)
Sevendust - Perhaps the only thing I can really find fault with this lineup is the fact that this Atlanta quintet was next on the bill, and not Puddle of Mudd. Sevendust has double the amount of studio albums, has been a major label band for longer, is probably more popular, and is definitely the better band, yet they're playing second? It doesn't make much sense to me. Either way, they probably wouldn't have played a much longer set, so it's a moot point. All complaints about the billing aside, Sevendust came out and played just as well as they did when I saw them at The Machine Shop in May. They have a great stage presence, and the bigger stage compared to the one in Flint only allowed them to demonstrate it further, as they had much more real estate to work with. After the lighter guitar work of 10 Years, Sevendust's twin guitars and pounding drums hit the audience like a ten-ton hammer. The contrast between the sound of the two was that striking. All 7 songs they played were on the setlist of the headlining gig in May, so there were no surprises there, but that didn't lessen their impact. Their opener, Splinter, is definitely one of my favorite songs from their latest album, and it is an absolute crusher live, with an irregular but effective riff echoed by the drums. Speaking of drums, Morgan Rose was a standout again at this show, and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite drummers to see live. Even though he had dyed his hair and ditched the dreads at this show, he was at the top of his game with the rest of the band, his powerful double bass kicks leading the way on Splinter, and though most of the songs in their set on this day didn't require his help on vocals, his screams on the ones that did, especially the awesome Face To Face, were as great as they were last time, albeit a little lower in the mix this time. Lajon made a point to interact with the crowd, who sadly had to warm up to these guys a bit. "You can love us, you can hate us, but you can't fucking ignore us," he declared a couple times throughout their set. He was incredibly gracious once again, constantly thanking the crowd and reminding them that they're the reason they were playing this show. He is definitely one of the most humble frontmen I've seen, and you can tell it's genuine. Their set was far too short, but they will be back headlining in the fall, so it's all good. To have this amazing band play second speaks volumes about how good this lineup is. Highlights of their set were Splinter, Denial, Angel's Son, Unraveling, and Face To Face. 8/10
Setlist:
Splinter
Praise
Denial
Angel's Son
Driven
Unraveling
Face To Face
Puddle of Mudd - Going into this show, I was pretty skeptical about seeing these guys again. I saw them last in February, when they were direct support for Shinedown, and it wasn't that they were bad, their set just really dragged. Wes was clearly on something, and it took a few songs for anyone to get into their set. This time was much different. When Wes came out and said, "This song is called Control," I could tell he was sober. His demeanor was far different from the performance in February. The difference in the performance was not as stark, but I definitely enjoyed them more this time. Their set didn't drag, possibly due to the mere fact that they had less time to play, but I didn't find them as boring overall. Control cracks me up every time I hear it, and it was no exception this time. The crowd, most of which had finally arrived by now, seemed to be into them from this first song, as opposed to the previous two bands. This was evident on the next song, Livin' On Borrowed Time, when the bassist got the very sizable group jumping in sync, the first of many times this would happen at this show. The song itself was forgettable, however, and far from their best. They made up for this quickly though, following it up with Spaceship, a track from their latest album, Volume 4: Songs In The Key of Love and Hate, and probably one of their best tracks in recent memory in my opinion. Their biggest and best song, Blurry, followed, and was by far the highlight of their set. The verses and chorus gave me chills last time I saw them, and they did the same this time, especially with the crowd sending the last chorus booming through the pavilion. As much as I'm not a huge fan of this band, I can't deny how powerful that song is. The next song, Stoned, was another one from their latest album, and again, it was one of their better songs in recent memory, complete with a Prong reference in the verses (Snap your fingers, snap your neck). The chorus is catchy and was one of my favorites in the set. Just as they did in February, they threw in a cover of AC/DC's TNT, but I didn't like it as much this time around. Even though the crowd enjoyed it immensely and it's a good way to keep everyone interested in the set, I thought the cover itself was boring and didn't suit them very well. Substituting Famous in its place would have been better in my opinion. Thankfully, they made up for it closing with two of their best songs, Psycho and She Hates Me, the latter for which Wes got about 20 or so kids, all seemingly younger than 13, up on stage to clap and sing with him. It was a very funny way to close the set and a nice thing to do for the kids, even though the song itself is not so nice. Overall, I thought Puddle of Mudd's performance improved greatly from the last time they played here. A huge fan I'll never be, but I don't mind seeing them on the bill of lineups such as this. They can certainly hold their own live. 7.5/10
Setlist:
Control
Livin' on Borrowed Time
Spaceship
Blurry
Stoned
T.N.T. (AC/DC cover)
Psycho
She Hates Me
Chevelle - Since I saw this trio from Illinois a little over a year ago, this band has quickly become one of my favorites. Going into this tour, I was curious how the crowd would receive these guys, seeing as their style and live show is far different from any of the other bands on this tour, except for 10 Years to an extent. They aren't flashy by any means; they just go out and play, another key difference between them and the other bands. Their stage setup reflected this, with no backdrop whatsoever draping over the huge curtain covering Shinedown's setup. The only notable parts of their setup were a long platform with space artwork on it that Sam's drums were placed on, and some amount of lights, but nothing all that flashy. They didn't need much either, because once they came on, they absolutely crushed. If Sevendust hit the crowd with a ten-ton hammer, Chevelle hit the crowd with a mack truck. Once Pete yelled "Touch!" into the mic to begin The Clincher, the pavilion was filled with a wall of sound. It definitely got the attention of the crowd, many of whom probably didn't know Chevelle as well as Puddle of Mudd. The band's sound was probably the best I've heard them so far, perhaps even better than when I saw them headline in a club last September. Pete's vocals sounded as good as ever, and his screams continue to sound better than they do on the albums. Dean's vocals are nothing to scoff at either, as he easily handled the backup vocal duties on The Clincher. However, the next song, Jars, showed how well Pete and Dean can work together vocally. On the chorus, rather than Pete singing the whole thing with Dean providing backup on some parts, they traded lines of the chorus back and forth between each other, and it worked very effectively without diminishing the quality of the song. In fact, I thought it made the chorus sound better live than it would have had Pete just handled it himself. This change made Jars, a favorite of mine from their latest album, a highlight of the set for me. The band then unveiled a few more surprises on their next few songs, with 5 of their following 6 songs coming off their best album, Wonder What's Next. While a couple of them, such as The Red and Send The Pain Below, were expected, the other three, Forfeit, Family System, and Comfortable Liar, were definitely not. But pleasant surprises they were, as all of them are some of Chevelle's best songs and demonstrate how heavy they can be. I felt that by the time they got to The Red, the crowd had really warmed up to them and started getting into it a lot more than I expected. Family System was even enough to generate the only pits of the entire concert and drew a pretty sizable amount of security to the lawn to watch over it. The Red and Send The Pain Below were definite crowd pleasers, as was their latest single, Letter From A Thief. Sleep Apnea, thrown in the middle of all those Wonder What's Next songs, was still played very well with some of Sam's best drum work. The band also threw in Emotional Drought, a very underrated track from This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In), before capping their set off with the excellent closer, I Get It. Another thing I noticed during the set was that Pete and Dean moved around and worked the crowd more than I've ever seen Chevelle do in the three times I've seen them. When either of them didn't have to sing, they were right up at the front of the stage in the faces of the audience playing. Though they still didn't say a lot to the crowd, I thought this improved their already stellar stage presence. This was, in my eyes, Chevelle's best performance of the three times I've had the pleasure of catching them live. Their set was excellent and full of surprises, their stage presence was great, and musically they were on their A game. Some may call them boring, but I felt they put on the best show of the Carnival to that point. 9/10
Setlist:
The Clincher
Jars
Forfeit
Comfortable Liar
The Red
Sleep Apnea
Send The Pain Below
Family System
Letter From A Thief
Emotional Drought
I Get It
Shinedown - The turnaround between Chevelle and Shinedown was very quick, not even lasting a half hour. Not long after 9, Jay-Z's 99 Problems blared over the PA, and I remembered that this was played right before Shinedown came on last time. It's a pretty weird combination, but I suppose 99 Problems is to Shinedown what Doctor, Doctor is to Iron Maiden. Sure enough, shortly after the song finished the lights cut out, the curtain lit up to reveal the silhouettes of the band members, and the opening riff of Sound of Madness cut through the night air to signify that Shinedown was back again. The crowd, which consisted of a nearly sold-out pavilion and a nearly-full lawn at this point, went absolutely crazy as the curtain dropped to reveal a similar setup to what the band had during their last headlining run, but with a couple differences. The back of the set was littered with a bunch of video screens that I don't remember being part of the setup last time, and a big video screen draped at the ceiling, where Iron Maiden had set up their many lights. Brent had embraced the carnival concept in choosing his wardrobe, sporting a carnival ringmaster outfit complete with a top hat and cane. Sound of Madness was awesome as usual, with the mix being spot-on from the get-go. As they did last time, they finished and went right into Devour, a great 1-2 punch that makes me wonder if the tracks should have been in this order on the album, because they flow so well together when played this way. Either way, Devour is one of their better faster songs and went over well live once again. After Brent spoke for a bit, they played a song I had yet to hear live from them: I Dare You. One of their more underrated songs overshadowed by their slew of popular slow songs, I was absolutely ecstatic when they started playing it, and it was done perfectly. Brent's voice was pitch-perfect on every note. On the chorus, which is pretty high in range, he nailed it and it sounded beautiful. It was definitely one of the many highlights of their set. After plowing through Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide, another up-tempo gem where Brent got the entire venue jumping, and If You Only Knew, another one of their beautiful ballads enhanced live by the excellent backing vocals of Zach Myers and Eric Bass, the band pulled another surprise out of their hat. This time, it was a song specially made for the movie The Expendables, entitled Diamond Eyes. Even though most of the crowd hadn't heard the song at this point, it was very easy to get into with the "Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom" parts mixed into the verse. The song itself is excellent as well, with catchy verses and a chorus that is very easy to learn but not overly simple, with Brent really laying it out vocally once again with great success. One could tell how hard he was pushing himself to reach those high notes, but he never sounded strained at all. Placing it in the set was somewhat of a risky move, but it ended up getting a great reception from the crowd and was another welcome change to the set for me. The band followed it up with three more of their hits, starting with the beautiful sing-along .45, where Brent once again displayed himself pushing his vocal range. Heroes, another great up-tempo song with one of my favorite bass intros, followed, then came their latest single, The Crow and The Butterfly. While not one of my favorite songs on The Sound of Madness, it was definitely another successful Shinedown ballad that gave Brent another chance to shine vocally. After they finished that song, the piano was wheeled out, and one would expect that means they were going to play Call Me. Instead, they went into Her Name Is Alice, their contribution to the soundtrack of Alice In Wonderland, a whimsical, subdued track with the usual explosive chorus from Brent. Overall, I probably prefer Call Me, but since I had heard it the previous two times they've played here, I didn't mind them trying this one out, though playing two movie tracks is definitely unusual. Save Me, one of my favorite Shinedown songs, was next, and it translated just as well live, with another nice bass intro and though the vocal parts aren't as impressive as some of their other songs, it's still very powerful. Following this song, Brent explained that the band allowed the fans to choose a Sound of Madness bonus track to be played on this tour. The choice ended up being Son of Sam, definitely the darkest song I've ever heard Shinedown play, both lyrically and musically. I thought it really showcased how heavy Shinedown can be when they want to, and that the track was good enough to make the original album, but probably would not have fit very well. Either way, it was another change of pace for the band and a pleasant surprise for me. The band would make my night, however, with their next song. Brent told a touching story about his grandma and how she died before their first album was released, then asked everyone to show their lighters and cell phones. He then announced the next song would be Burning Bright, probably the song I had most wanted to hear live since I started listening to this band. It is, in my opinion, their best slow song, and the band confirmed this to me by playing it to perfection. It was so beautiful, I definitely got misty-eyed. Another high point of the show for me. As if that wasn't enough, after the song, Brent journeyed out to the walkway in front of the lawn to greet all the poor people and thank them for coming out. Earlier in the review, I talked about Lajon from Sevendust being one of the most humble frontmen I've seen. Brent is in that category as well, constantly showing his appreciation with gestures like this. Once he returned to the stage, he once again led the crowd in jumping in unison as the band closed their main set with another Leave A Whisper track, Left Out. After a brief break, the entire band came to the front of the stage. Brent announced that it was Barry Kirch's birthday, leading the huge crowd in singing Happy Birthday to him, then started up the Simple Man cover with Zach. One of my favorite covers, Brent and Zach really made the song their own, and the occasion of Barry's birthday made it feel even more special. They didn't really extend it as much as last time I saw them, but that was probably for the best. Once they were done, the band returned to their usual instruments and burned through Fly From The Inside, another one of their best songs that showcased everything awesome about this band: Brent's range of vocals, the dynamic contrast in their music, and the stellar backing vocals. After this one, Brent thanked the crowd once again and said this night would be remembered for a long time by the band. They then went into their final song, Second Chance, yet another gorgeous song with Brent pushing his voice to reach those high notes one last time. A perfect end to the perfect hard rock concert and one of the best live performances I've seen by any band, period. 10/10
Setlist:
Sound Of Madness
Devour
I Dare You
Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide
If You Only Knew
Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)
.45
Heroes
The Crow and The Butterfly
Her Name is Alice
Save Me
Son of Sam
Burning Bright
Left Out
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Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)
Fly From The Inside
Second Chance
This show was everything I had hoped for and then some. Every band was great, and these days that's rare in larger lineups. If this becomes an annual thing, you can be assured I will be there every year. Though the support may never be this good again, Shinedown always delivers and is a treat to see live every time.