Review & photos by Rachel Jablonski
I was amazed the moment I walked in the door. People were everywhere. I had not been to a sold out show at the Ranch Bowl in ages. Submerged in the crowd along with my Shinedown crazed sister, I waited to hear the band we were primarily there to see.
The moment Shinedown stepped on stage the energy was high. Crowd enthusiasm kept up through the show not only due to the attractive live set, but also because of the way in which vocalist Brent Smith kept the crowd involved. He seemed to connect with the audience speaking appreciatively of the support being displayed. The crowd responded well. Though I appreciate the band’s intent to involve the audience, I did think that too much talking resulted in the loss of musical flow. This did not seem to bother fans however.
The dominating element of Shinedown is most definitely the voice of Brent Smith. Both on record and live, the sound of his voice is captivating and distinct. One song after another was solid in vocal styling.
I had come to the show happy to see my sister excited to experience her favorite band at the moment live. As for myself, I was interested in hearing the main three songs on the Shinedown album that really have stuck out to me. But the songs I was hoping for never came. The band instead did a rendition of a Lynard Skynard song that lasted quite awhile simply featuring the guitar player and vocalist. Though this was a surprising twist with a rather decent response, I found it to be unfortunate. On the road supporting a debut album I really would suggest and would like to have heard the band play their original songs for the entire set. I left the show not having heard “Lost in the Crowd” or “Burning Bright.” These are slower songs and I can respect the desire to keep the show high energy, but this material would more than likely have been appreciated by most everyone. Overall, the evening was a success for Shinedown leaving the audience seemingly pleased.