With special guests Beartooth and Morgan Wade also impressing fans, the Florida hard rockers electrified the Van Andel Arena crowd with special effects and emotional moments.
Shinedown: Pyrotechnics, fan interaction, new and old songs. (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
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Fans eagerly began lining up at Firehouse Guitars in Grandville as early as 7:30 a.m. Monday for an opportunity to meet guitarist Zach Myers of Shinedown ahead of the band’s headlining show at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena that evening.
Before the meet and greet began, Myers made a point to mention that he is suffering with kidney stones and that he “slept in his shower last night” — apologizing for not being at 100 percent.
That didn’t seem to stop him from joyfully signing guitars and taking pictures with fans.
After about 1,000 people showed interest in attending the Firehouse Guitars / GearTree event via Facebook, nearly 150 were on hand at the beginning of the signing, with more showing up as the meet-and-greet continued — many dressed in previous Shinedown tour shirts, with vinyl, guitars and posters in-hand for Myers to sign.
That same enthusiasm was on display Monday evening for the hard rock band’s “Dance, Kid, Dance Tour” stop at a packed Van Andel Arena, with special guests Beartooth and Morgan Wade.
Meet-and-Greet: Guitarist Zach Myers earlier in the day at Firehouse Guitars. (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
Wade opened the night with a stripped-down, country rock vibe. One of my favorite things in music is when things aren’t what you expect, and you learn that you love that — definitely the effect Morgan Wade had on me.
Beartooth — which previously played Grand Rapids at GLC Live at 20 Monroe and the 2024 Upheaval Festival — took advantage of the mammoth arena environment, with frontman Caleb Shomo jumping and spinning all over the stage. He made use of every inch of the space he was given.
The crowd responded by screaming lyrics back to Shomo and jumping on command.
As a casual Shinedown listener, I was blown away by the Florida band’s set which kicked off with the “TV Guy” (a person wearing an old school TV on their head) at center stage, dancing around, with the video wall flashing clips of nostalgic TV shows. The numbers on his TV head counted down from 10, and when it hit zero, Shinedown hit the stage, opening the night with the tour’s namesake, “Dance, Kid, Dance.”
“Michigan is pure family, 100 percent,” lead singer Brent Smith declared at one point, noting their set would include songs they hadn’t played in awhile or never performed as a full band, including 2020’s “Atlas Falls.” Indeed, the band made it about one-third of the way through that song before Smith stopped and restarted it after pulling up the lyrics on his cellphone.
Not only did the band perform at full volume, with an insane production spectacle, but band members clearly had fun on stage, acting silly and teasing each other.
“I’m up here trying to play emotional songs,” Myers said, noting that Smith meanwhile was taking a crowd video. Then he acknowledged: “He’s older than me, but he’s like my little brother.”
Pyrotechnics and disco balls enhanced songs such as “Three Six Five,” from Shinedown’s latest album, a track dedicated to those we’ve lost with a poignant tribute of photos displayed on the video wall. The emotional moment even induced a fan in the crowd to propose to his girlfriend (and from the looks of it, she said yes).
It capped the evening’s exceptional collective experience.
PHOTO GALLERY: Shinedown, Beartooth, Morgan Wade at Van Andel Arena
Zach Myers at Firehouse Guitars
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
SET LIST: Shinedown at Van Andel Arena
Setlist.fm
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