Shinedown Montreal Concert Review and Photos
After releasing their latest album, Planet Zero earlier this month, Shinedown came to Montreal to give fans a taste of what they’ve been working on ever since the world shut down in 2020. Opening up for them were Ayron Jones and Pop Evil.
Before frontman Brent Smith, guitarist Zach Myers, bassist Eric Bass, and drummer Barry Kerch came out, the massive video wall at the back of the stage showed the band in what looked to be their first few rehearsals after things started to “return to normal”.
Starting off their set with Saints of Violence and Innuendo, flames shot up from the stage adding even more heat to this already hot and humid day. The last time Montreal got to see Shinedown, it was when they were out touring their album, Attention Attention, and next up was Devil, off of that very album. The title track Planet Zero was up next followed by State of My Head.
After all of that excitement, it was time to give fans a breather during their song, 45. But hey, this is Shinedown; they brought the energy back up with the fittingly titled, Get Up.
Bully was up next followed by another new track, Daylight. Even though some of these songs are less than two weeks old, the fans welcomed this new music with open arms.
Next up were six of what I think are the most high energy Shinedown songs out there. Enemies, Cut The Chord, Second Chance, Unity, Monsters and Diamond Eyes. Even though Second Chance and Unity are more on the slower side, what makes them special is the crowd involvement . There’s nothing better than a crowd over powering the vocalist which is exactly what they did during the next song, Call Me.
During the last tour, the band would pay homage to the late Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins with a cover of their song Wheels. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hear that cover, but we did get a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man. While chatting with the crowd just before playing, Smith said that while the band only knows a little bit of French, we all speak the universal language of music. He also added that they’ll learn more before visiting us again.
They say that all good things must come to and end, and their song, The Sound of Madness was the best way to close out this crazy, hot, night.
It isn’t easy creating a setlist to cater to everyone, but Shinedown manages to do it right. It comes in waves -- perfect highs and lows. You have just enough time to recover from the high during a slower sing-a-long song, but then you're once again swept into the madness.
Enjoy the rest of our photos below
