SHOW REVIEW: Shinedown’s Attention! Attention! Tour Rocks Phoenix
SHOW REVIEW: Shinedown’s Attention! Attention! Tour Rocks Phoenix
The wild night was supported by Broken Hands, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and Badflower.
By Taylor Gilliam
Between the pyrotechnics, lasers, and long setlist peppered with hits, Shinedown demands your attention on their Attention! Attention! Tour, with stopped in Phoenix over the weekend. Bringing the spectacle to the downtown area’s Comerica Theatre, the band (along with Broken Hands, Dinosaur Pile-Up, and Badflower) gave the city a night they would not soon forget.
The Saturday night slot brought quite the crowd out to the venue, a mix ranging from biker folks, to hardcore teens, to the 60+ year old attendees who were oddly laid back throughout the night—a stark contrast to everyone who was absolutely thriving at the barricade or in their seats. Admittedly, the first two sets were hard to get into. Broken Hands opened up the night, but an uneven sound mix had the crowd wondering if there were vocals coming from the stage at all. The first few rows looked at each other in confusion and asked the photographers if there was a problem with the sound system. On stage, the British rockers were visibly annoyed but still pushed through cuts from their upcoming album Split in Two, out August 9th.
It was the same case for Dinosaur Pile-Up, who were only audible from the back of the room– however they were too busy playing off of their first album in three years, Celebrity Mansions, to care. This is around when the majority of the crowd trickled in clearly ready for some rock, so they missed the awkwardness of the vocal-less beginning that did a disservice to the talent of the first two bands. Whatever was going on with the sound mix, it was all settled in time for Badflower. Vocalist/guitarist Josh Katz stepped up to the microphone and ripped right into “x ANA x,” sounding raw and primal– but he was just warming up. The stage became a catwalk with Katz strutting back and forth and getting on the ground with his guitar. In an effort to catch his breath, he expressed his love for Phoenix and promised they’d stop by on their to-be-announced fall headlining tour.
Badflower had certainly put on an entertaining show, but Shinedown showed up with the added production value. Opening with “DEVIL,” the multi-platinum record-breaking rockers looked upon the sold out crowd of thousands screaming in excitement. And then the stage burst into flame. Each heat wave hyped up the crowd even more, and the standing room was soon a sweaty mess. Without breaking poise, the band played more than a dozen songs back to back— “Second Chance,” “If You Only Knew,” “Bully,” and other picks from their catalog that spans the past decade.
The standout moment of the night however was the Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington tribute, which consisted of a cover medley of “Black Hole Sun”/ “Simple Man” during the encore. As the first notes floated from the front, the crowd began to sing along, holding their flashlights to the heavens in memoriam. It was a tough moment as the rock community remembered the losses they’ve suffered in recent years, but it was also a moment of gratitude. After all, few artists are left who can do their memories justice– and Shinedown proved they’re one of the last few great acts who can.
