Just saw this concert last night at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines, IA. I'd been anticipating this show for the longest time...couldn't wait to hear some new material before Sound of Madness actually dropped; and Shinedown did not disappoint.

First, though, a short recap of the opening bands. 12 Stones were decent at best. The band itself seemed pretty tight, and their sound was pretty good after the first three songs (seemed like the guitars were really low and bass was jacked for a while), but the lead singer was just NUTS. And not in a good way. He was one of the most annoying vocalists to watch in a live show...he sounded great, but his performance really detracted from the show as a whole. He would either put devil horns on top of his head every other measure, or stick his tongue sideways out of his mouth and start panting like a dog during every vocal break. Absolutely ridiculous.

10 Years were FANTASTIC. I've just recently been getting into these guys, and they put on one hell of a show. Jesse has an incredible stage presence, and they played a great setlist (I can't recall all of it, but some included Russian Roulette, Drug of Choice, Actions & Motives, So Long, Goodbye, Waking Up, The Autumn Effect, and Wasteland obviously). The only thing that bothered me had to do with the crowd...during Autumn Effect, which is one of their best IMO, they started jamming in the middle in a very tasteful and experimental way...and then the crowd went NUTS crowdsurfing, sending up a person literally every two seconds. It was impossible to watch or listen to the show, or you'd be nailed in the head every 2 seconds...that was frustrating. It never really got that bad again...but too bad they had to ruin a fantastic song. Great show otherwise though, I'm going to have to see them again.

Then Shinedown. They opened with Devour, as I figured they would. I was actually a bit disappointed with how the single sounded live...ever since Eric and Zach have both joined up, Shinedown has started doing 3 part harmony during the show, which sometimes sounds fantastic, other times, really out of tune. Devour was the latter. Every chorus, something sounded really off...I couldn't quite place what was going on, but it sounded only marginal. Things went drastically uphill from there, however.

Heroes was next, which sounded great. Nick Perri can really rock out on stage, you know? I love Jasin Todd to death, honestly enjoyed his performance more than Perri's so far, but Perri is doing an excellent job filling in if you ask me. Heroes was followed with TONS of new material...first up was Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide, which ROCKS live. Such a cool song, I'm pumped for that one.

At this point, the order becomes sketchy...a lot of new material hit at once, so forgive me if the order is somewhat skewed. Another new song was played, although the name was not announced...it was pretty solid, and I'm guessing it was What A Shame. I Dare You was up next, I believe, followed by Second Chance, which had an interesting story about Brent's parents behind it. Apparently he was worried when he wrote it, because he wasn't sure who it would affect. Basically, the song has to do with his need to break out of the usual circle of his town and leave to pursue his dreams...the chorus lyrics end with "sometimes leaving can be a second chance." Second Chance is a pretty mellow ballad, but sounds fantastic, it'll be a great track on the album. Burning Bright followed, to my disappointment...not much was played from LaW, and I was hoping for some more unknown material (they NEVER play Stranger Inside, Crying Out, Lacerated, etc).

Sound of Madness was the next new song played, which was honestly not as cool as I was expecting it to be. Still a great song, especially live, but I was expecting something a lot more epic. In any case, it'll be a solid track, and looks to be one of their next singles. Save Me was up next, and the crowed went nuts on this one, per usual. The Crow and the Butterfly followed, I believe, which sounded GREAT, I'm really looking forward to hearing this on the album. This was not an acoustic performance of the song, as many have heard it...the full band came in by the second chorus. 45 followed after a cool interlude, and after finishing, Shinedown left the stage for a significant period of time...it wasn't an encore call, however, as techies were onstage setting up a piano for the next song. Finally, Brent and Eric came back on stage and performed another new track; I missed the name of it, unfortunately, but I'm assuming it was If Only You Knew, since it was a love ballad...very interesting having Shinedown perform piano tracks, but I really enjoyed it. They ended the night with Fly From the Inside, a highlight for me...I love that song no matter how many times in a row I hear it.

Overall, a fantastic show. Brent seemed pretty vocally tired by the end of the night, which might be why they didn't do an encore performance, even though the crowd clearly wanted to hear Simple Man (they were chanting it for about 3 minutes at one point during the show). I apologize if I messed up order or new song names...I was in the front and couldn't really keep track terribly well. Hope you guys enjoy seeing them live, it was a great show!

Ah...and I forgot the most interesting part of the night. Sometime around "Save Me," Brent assured everyone in the crowd that "the only bosses we have are standing right in front of us." Highly ironic, considering the Brad and Jasin controversy...no matter how you feel about the new members, you cannot deny that Atlantic forced Jasin (and possibly Brad) out of the band. Obviously Brent is mistaken...seems to me the record label is the BIG TIME boss around here. I wanted to call him out on it, since I was in the second row, but I respect Brent too much to pull something like that. Interesting statement, though, huh?

very nice review. I will correct the songs names though, that way when the album drops, you wont be like umm this isnt the song that they played. The first one you mentioned as assuming it was "What A Shame" was more than likely "Cry For Help" since they have been playing that song since being back on the road. Who knows though, could have been What A Shame. The 2nd song, with the piano, isn't "If You Only Knew" it is "Call Me." Fantastic song. Other than that, glad you had a good time at the show. Thanks for the review

Ahh, thank you for the clarification, you're probably correct about both of those. I appreciate the help.

Not a problem man.