Shinedown at Foxwoods Resort Casino – December 29, 2023
Shinedown closed out 2023 with a special one-off show at the sold-out Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino. While The Revolutions Live tour, supporting 2022’s Planet Zero, wrapped up a couple of months ago, the band pulled the show back out in Connecticut on what guitarist Zach Myers referred to as “New Years Eve Eve Eve.”
With no opening act to start the show, the Planet Zero logo filled the screens while the four members of Shinedown walked to the front of the stage to greet the crowd. The band kicked into “Diamond Eyes,” followed up by their recent single, “Dead Don’t Die.” Bassist Eric Bass then sat behind a piano, while frontman Brent Smith sang “I’ll Follow You.”
Though it was a one-off show, the setlist followed the same structure as their recent fall tour. In addition to “Dead Don’t Die,” two additional songs off of Planet Zero were performed tonight; the title track, as well as the recent, softer release, “A Symptom of Being Human.” We also heard a small portion of the ballad that was a number 1 hit last year, “Daylight,” which was turned into a medley with ATTENTION ATTENTION‘s “Get Up.”
With over 30 top-five singles, the band will never play every song you want to hear, but they do a good job of hitting all corners of their career. Hits like “45” and “Second Chance,” as well as rockers like “Sound of Madness,” “Devil” and “Enemies” were all highlights of the show.
Over the last several tours, guitarist Zach Myers and bassist Eric Bass will give Brent a break, and the duo will do an acoustic cover. I’ve seen them do a Foo Fighters cover shortly after Taylor Hawkins’ passing, as well as a cover of TLC’s “Waterfalls.” This time around, they played Jimmy Eat World’s smash hit, “The Middle.” After the first verse and chorus however, their road crew came on stage to fill the sound, and play a full rock version of the song. Zach’s tech Drew Foppe, Eric’s tech Jeramy Donais (aka Hoogie), and Barry’s drum tech Ricky Sanders makeup “The Warmup Room” band, and while many in the crowd had no idea who the extra musicians on stage were, they all enjoyed the performance of the song.
As the show neared the end, the band took a moment to bring out the president of Foxwoods, who presented a check that was going to charity, featuring the funds raised in a raffle contest for a trip to this show. After that, executives from XXXXX came out and presented the band with plaques, honoring the 23 number one songs the band has had across their platform.
The show finished out with Zack and Brent performing their cover of Skynard’s “Simple Man,” followed up with the powerful 1-2 combo of “Monsters” and “Cut the Cord.” Following a literally explosive finale, Brent wished everybody a happy new year, and reminding the audience “It’s never goodbye, it’s just until next time.” He said “We’ll see you in 2024,” though as of now, the band has nothing announced besides a single summer festival date. Presumably, we’ll get an announcement soon, whether it’s their next album, something with Smith & Myers, or maybe they’ll attempt 2020’s “Deep Dive” tour, which was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Shinedown knows how to command a stage, and the show was a wonderful holiday treat, ending 2023 with a bang, and leaving us excited to see what comes next.
