Sacramento, CA (8-4-25) -Whenever you go to a band’s website you will typically be able to navigate to an “About” tab. This is where a person can learn a bit of history about the band, or perhaps about
their latest project. This is not the case with Shinedown.
After more than 20 years of rocking, it’s safe to say that the name Shinedown is very
well known. Case in point, in early March Shinedown became the first band to secure
20 Mainstream Rock Airplay Number One songs. 20 Number one songs!!! Think about
that for just a moment. That’s not 20 songs in the Top 5. That is 20 songs at THE very
top of the chart!
As if that isn’t enough, the band has sold more than ten million albums. They have also
had over 6 billion global streams and had every single they’ve released place in the Top
5 in the charts. ‘A Symptom of Being Human’ received the award of Rock Song of the
Year by iHeart Radio. Shinedown was also named as iHeart Radio’s Rock Artist of the
Year for 2025.
‘Dance, Kid, Dance’ is the band’s latest song to reach the top of the charts. It is also the
name of Shinedown’s current tour. Welcome to the “Dance, Kid, Dance Tour”!
The tour made a stop at the Golden 1 Center, in the heart of downtown Sacramento,
California. With a concert capacity of 19,000 fans the Golden 1 Center is one of the
largest venues in the region. For this portion of the tour Shinedown had special guests
Bush, and Morgan Wade performing as support.
Morgan Wade, the tatted up, bonafide, country badass kicked the evening off with ‘High
In Your Apartment’ off of her “The Party Is Over (Recovered)” album. It was pretty
amazing to see the crowd hanging on to her every word. The fact that there were so
many in their seats to catch her set is a testament to what a true talent she is.
I first learned of Morgan Wade through many of my friends on social media. I found
myself admiring her transparency on life’s struggles, her journey on sobriety, and her
stellar songwriting. Honestly, the fact that Morgan was on the bill is one of the main
reasons that I asked to cover the show. It felt like many in the audience were just as
excited to see Morgan perform as I was.
Throughout her abbreviated set, Morgan demonstrated the ability to make each person
in attendance feel like she was singing just for them. She has the uncanny ability to
make a person feel that the lyrics she penned were written for those singing back to her.
After watching her perform songs such as ‘The Night’, ‘Roses’, and an absolutely
incredible cover of ‘Creep’ (Radiohead), I can not wait to catch her on her very own
headlining tour.
Veteran alternative rockers, Bush, were next to rock stage. And ROCK the stage the
most certainly did! ‘Scars’ from the band’s brand-new album “I Beat Loneliness” was
the opening song of their set, and lead singer Gavin Rossdale treated that raucous
crowd like it was his own.
Backed by Nik Hughes, Chris Traynor, and Corey Britz, Rossdale made it a point to
venture out into the crowd. Leaping over barricades, sprinting up flights of stairs,
shaking hands, and serenading concert goers along the way. Coupled with the expert
musicianship, Bush had the crowd on their feet the entire time.
Though Bush’s set was an hour in length, they performed so many of their hits. Songs
such as ‘Everything Zen’, ‘Machinehead’, and ‘Comedown” were some of the crowd’s
favorites. Rossdale also performed ‘Swallowed’ acapella, and ‘Glycerine’ as a solo
performance. Of course, they also performed a handful of songs from their new album,
which sounded amazing.
After more than 30 years in the business, Bush absolutely rocked the house!
Bush Setlist
‘Scars’
‘Machinehead’
‘Everything Zen’
‘I Beat Loneliness’
‘More Than Machines’
‘The Land of Milk and Honey’
’60 Ways to Forget People’
‘Swallowed’
‘Flowers On a Grave’
‘Glycerine’
‘Comedown’
At long last, the house lights went out, momentarily silencing the buzzing crowd. All
eyes are fixated on the stage as a character dressed in black and wearing a TV set on
his head appears. He begins dancing around the stage to the tune of ‘Sledgehammer’
(Peter Gabriel) blasting through the venue’s speakers.
As the song fades out, the TV set and stage screen begin showing snippets of shows
from long ago. Well loved shows such as ‘Mork & Mindy’, ‘Sanford and Son’, and the
more recent ‘Stranger Things’. It was then that I noticed a female also, dressed in black,
bouncing around the stage with a remote control in her hands. She was changing the
channels as she bounced around.
Then, Shinedown took the stage. The band explosively launched into ‘Dance, Kid,
Dance’ to thunderous cheers and applause. Speaking of thunder and explosives,
Shinedown made full use of pyrotechnics on this, the opening song of their set. It was
epic!
With not even a moment to catch a breath, the band launched into ‘Bully’, from 2012’s
album ‘Amaryllis’. This was the first show of the tour that the band has performed this
song. It seems that Shinedown has vowed to make a conscious effort to change up the
setlist from city to city.
Comprised of Brent Smith (vocals), Barry Kerch (drums), Eric Bass (bass), and Zach
Myers (guitar), Shinedown ripped into a rock and roll assault of ‘Cut the Cord’ which left
the crowd fully energized.
With Shinedown’s new stage setup, it offers a very cool experience for concert goers.
The main stage has appendages that extend well into the general admission “pit” area.
With the exception of Barry Kerch (drums), each band member has their own spot at the
end of each appendage to perform. Shinedown is essentially playing in the crowd.
The band did not shy away from any of their hits. Song after song, it almost seemed as
this could be a “greatest hits” show. A particularly powerful moment, in a poignant kind
of way, came when Brent slowed things down a bit. He took a moment to speak about
death, and those that we have lost. This was done as an introduction to the song ‘Three
Six Five’ as almost a dedication to our loved ones that are no longer with us.
Although I have been listening to Shinedown since the 2004 release of the ‘Leave a
Whisper’ album, this was the very first time I’ve seen them live. This show alone, proves
why they are one of the biggest and best bands in the world. With a set that was very
close to two hours in length, this was easily the absolute best concert I’ve seen all year,
and well worth the nearly three hour drive.
Overall, the music is incredible, the production is top notch, and the stage show is
visually stunning. If you get the chance, be sure to catch the ‘Dance, Kid, Dance Tour’ at
a city near you. You will not leave disappointed!
Shinedown Setlist
‘Dance, Kid, Dance’
‘Bully’
‘Cut the Cord’
‘If You Only Knew’
‘Devil’
‘Three Six Five’
‘Enemies’
‘Call Me’
‘Burning Bright’
‘In Memory’
‘Through the Ghost’
‘Diamond Eyes’
‘A Symptom of Being Human’
‘Planet Zero’
‘Purple Rain’ (Prince cover)
‘Simple Man’ (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)
‘Monsters’
‘Sound of Madness’
‘Second Chance’
Do not altar photos
Copyright: Chris Couture Photography
