Toledo, OH – Chart-topping rock band, Shinedown, brought their Dance, Kid, Dance tour to Ohio on May 1st. The city of Toledo was the fourth stop in the first part of this two-legged headline tour. The 36-date run began on April 25th and will be one of the band’s largest runs in their two-decade history. Shinedown also recently won some impressive awards like the Rock Artist of the Year and Rock Song of the Year ( For “A Symptom of Being Human”) at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. The song, “A Symptom of Being Human,” on their album, “Planet Zero,” has amassed nearly 125 million global streams and resonates with many because human connections are what really matter in our lives.
Morgan Wade and her band stepped onto the stage at the Huntington Center first. The country music artist, dressed in an Ozzy t-shirt, used her distinct, gravelly voice to grab the early bird crowd’s attention. When Wade’s performance began, people were still filing into the arena, but her voice carried so well and could be heard throughout the arena. Those making their way into and through the arena still received a great performance.
Wade breezed through songs like “Wilder Days” and “Take Me Away”, but the shock factor of the performance was the trumpet solo by band member, Tyler James. While the band remained stationary for most of the set, James walked out onto the catwalk with a spotlight on him and received the loudest applause of the set.
The set ended with the band paying homage to the city of Detroit with a small instrumental of Kiss’s intro to “Detroit Rock City.”
Beartooth brought the energy the Huntington Center didn’t know it needed. The band, based in Columbus, Ohio, did not need any introduction at all—based on the crowd’s reaction to the set, I’d estimate half of the crowd was there to see them.
The first evident thing was how beat-heavy the performance was. You could feel the drum beat from anywhere in the arena. LED screens gave the set design a fun twist as lead vocalist, Caleb Shomo, danced around the stage without a care in the world. They performed hit song after hit song during their 11-song set, but “I Was Alive” and “Riptide” got the loudest cheers.
About halfway through the set, the band performed a drum and instrumental set that would make any head-banging music lover proud.
Beartooth consistently got the crowd involved. Shomo asked the crowd to clap, raise their fists, head-bang, cheer and even mimic what he did. His reasoning was “to make sure you are warmed up for Shinedown.”
When the set ended, you could tell they really loved performing and seeing all the smiling faces singing right back at them.
Shinedown finally came onto the stage after a fun intro with their tour mascot dubbed, “TV Guy.” Their first song, “Dance, Kid, Dance” came on and everyone went wild. Pyro, bangs, and fireworks were all involved within the first three songs, and you knew it was going to be a great night.
After the song “Devil”, lead vocalist, Brent Smith, took the time to thank the crowd for supporting them over the last two decades. He also spoke about a charity that the Dance, Kid, Dance tour is involved with called “Musicians On Call.” For every ticket sold on tour, one dollar goes back to the cause, and within the first four shows, it had reached around $200,000.
The show got super emotional as Smith began to introduce the next song. He asked the crowd to raise their hand if they lost someone they were close with recently. Friend, family, whatever the case was, he wanted you to raise your hand. I teared up at that moment as I lost someone I considered a dear friend and, somewhat, father figure. As someone who can usually keep my emotions in check, going to a concert where it becomes obvious what the next song is about will make me sob like a baby. It just goes to show how powerful music can be. Smith continued by saying they didn’t leave us. They are still around. He said, “I want you to channel them into this room.” Essentially bringing them into the concert to experience it with us. “Three Six Five” began to play and I don’t think anyone was ready for the emotional rollercoaster that song, and the speech before, would bring especially only six songs deep into the set.
“Enemies” played next, switching the energy up a bit with lights bouncing off disco balls hanging above the stage, creating a cool disco effect around the arena. “Call Me” and “Through The Ghost” were up next.
TV Guy appeared again at the sound booth and danced around as the acoustic set was created. The band announced that Zach Myers had an emergency surgery the day before and doctors insisted he take it easy for the next five days. In typical rocker fashion, he continued playing by taking “it easy by being a bit slower” on the stage.
Shinedown played four songs acoustically before heading back up for “Diamond Eyes (Boom – Lay – Boom – Lay Boom),” which was the perfect song to begin the next part of the show. The high-intensity song got the crowd riled up again after the acoustic set.
Shinedown asked that all cell phones have the flashlights turned on for “A Symptom of Being Human”, which made the entire venue look like a galaxy of stars.
Hits like “Planet Zero,” “Monsters,” “Sound of Madness,” and “Second Chance” rounded out the show.
Thank you to Shinedown and your team for inviting us to review and photograph the show. It was an honor and something we hope to do again soon!