Carnival of Maddess: Shinedown at Charter One Pavilion

The Venue (Charter One Pavilion): (3/5) I continue to be unimpressed with the staff at this venue. They are not knowledgeable about the event, or even the facility. The security is relatively lax, which happens at temporary venues. The venue is cobbled together rather chaotically with minimal signs and minimal layout. If one can get lost in a few yard area, there is something wrong. For being temporary bathrooms, the bathrooms were acutely relatively nice.

The sound and lighting quality were solid especially for a temporary venue.

Honestly, the biggest perk about this venue is the artists that come to it.

The Crowd (3/5): Typical, lazy festival crowd, even Brent Smith had to work hard to get the crowd moving. And when Shinedown’s front man has to work hard, you know it’s a lazy crowd. Interesting phenomenon, they were significantly quieter for the songs from Leave A Whisper(2003), than from either Us and Them(2005) or Sound Of Madness(2008).

On to the show:

Shinedown (4/5): Shinedown is in my top three bands from a raw energy standpoint. Smith is phenomenal with the audience and very gracious. However, the energy wasn’t as good as other shows of theirs I’ve seen, but it was still amazing. For me there was a little much of the oldest album, as it didn’t seem to work for the crowd that well. While it is important to keep the older albums alive as a hat tip to the fans that have stuck with the band since the beginning, it is also imperative you pay attention to the crowd and their reactions.

I also find Shinedown’s sets have a disproportionate number of their slower songs. While many of their singles are the ballads, Shinedown at its core is right on the edge of metal. Most of their stuff is hard-edged power rock. That being said, those slow songs are some of the most powerful songs I’ve heard, partly because I “get” them on some deep level.

All of the band members are showmen, if nothing else. In addition to their incredible talent, Smith and guitarist Zach Myers have a wonderful dynamic on stage. They are in a constant, very well balanced give and take. Even from the audience, the bond this band shares is palpable, especially between Smith and Myers.

The member I was most struck with last night, however, was the drummer. I noticed that one of the things that distinguish Shinedown from other acts in their genera is the superb quality of the drum work. I don’t usually notice the drummers, save for the occasional solo, but drummer, Barry Kerch, absolutely blew me away with the sheer power of the his drumming.

Overall, it was a hard crowd and a wonderful show.