On Saturday, April 15th the Amway Center in Orlando, FL hosted The Revolutions Live Tour with Shinedown, Three Days Grace, and From Ashes to New. Aside from a trio of stellar rock bands taking the stage in Orlando, they would also be taking it on the biggest indoor venue. And if you didn’t believe three rock bands could fill the Amway Center, you would be wrong. Inside the arena, it was a nearly sold-out show and the venue literally added more seats the day of the show to accommodate more attendees. Fans were wearing merch from their favorite bands and the merch booths inside the arena were bustling with long lines no matter which booth you visited. You could feel this was going to be a special night.
From Ashes to New was first up to the stage. The band from Lancaster, PA started back in 2013 with three studio albums released. The band will be releasing their fourth studio album Blackout on July 28th. The band’s two vocalists Danny Case and Matt Brandyberry complement each other very well and add in wild guitarist Lance Dowdle and thunder-drummer Mat Madiro and you have a band that will absolutely energize a crowd. And that’s exactly what they did.
They came out fast-paced and with their energy immediately had the crowd’s attention. Danny’s clean singing and Matt’s rapping had everyone engaged and they were amping up the crowd pointing and waving and telling fans to get moving. Lance loves to have fun on stage and this evening was no different. He came out with a mask and played it up to some of the photographers. Mat, who was very far back due to the bands having a long and wide catwalk as part of the setup, was putting on a heck of a performance behind the drumkit. The band performed my favorite single “Heartache” which is from their new album and it sounded amazing. From Ashes to New always provides the fans with such an amazing performance and that night they were top notch. It was such a pleasure to see them perform on a big stage and command it so effortlessly. Go check out their music and merch over at https://www.fromashestonew.com.
Three Days Grace from Norwood, Ontario, Canada has been around since 1997 and released their self-titled album in 2003. Their breakout hit “I Hate Everything About You” was the first single from the self-debut album, which would go on to be certified double-platinum. Their second album One-X would be certified triple-platinum and third album Life Starts Now would be certified platinum. With those accomplishments and a total of seven studio albums, Three Days Grace are heavy hitters in rock. Brothers Matt Walst (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Brad Walst (bass) along with Barry Stock (lead guitar) and Neil Sanderson (drums) were ready to rock.
Matt wasted no time getting the crowd engaged as they performed “So Called Life” but really had the crowd going with “Animal I Have Become”. The Orlando crowd was bouncing up and down and Matt kept asking for the mosh pits to get moving (which I had never seen at Amway Center). Brad was totally into his performance banging his head and grinning all night. Barry stayed back towards the stage most of the night playing through his notes. But, he had a tower carousel full of guitar picks and was whipping them out to the crowd every chance he got. Neil was playing those drums hard and also looking to the crowd to get more energized, which I don’t think was possible. The Orlando crowd was constantly moving and jumping during Three Days Grace and it’s one of the reasons I love this band. Their music is so high energy, memorable, and rocks you to your core. “The Mountain” is one of my favorites because it hits hard and it’s catchy. But, when they performed “I Hate Everything About You” that crowd was loud singing back every chorus line to them. And if you want a song that will get a crowd jumping, “Riot” is that song for them. The perfect way to end their set and absolutely phenomenal performance. You can check out their music and merch over at https://threedaysgrace.com.
And then we got to our headliners in Shinedown. The band out of Jacksonville, FL started in 2001 releasing their debut album Fly From The Inside in 2003. Shinedown made an impact with the singles from that album, especially with their cover of Lynryd Skynrd’s “Simple Man”. Their debut album was certified platinum. The band would see continued success with Us and Them (2005), The Sound of Madness (2008), Amaryllis (2012), Threat to Survival (2015), Attention Attention (2018) and their current album Planet Zero (2022). The band has 19 #1 hits, 15 platinum and gold singles, and a platinum or gold certification for every album. To say Shinedown is successful would be an understatement. The band consists of Brent Smith (vocals), Zach Myers (guitar), Eric Bass (bass, production), and Barry Kerch (drums).
Out of the number of concerts I’ve reviewed over 6 years, Shinedown had the most visually stunning entrance I’ve ever seen. Between the lighted panels, the fog, lights, and silhouetted walkout from the band, it was breathtaking. And I knew from that moment forward, we were in for a visual and audible extravaganza. Shinedown started out hard and heavy with “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay-Boom-Lay-Boom), which is a super fun song, and “Dead Don’t Die” from Planet Zero which has such a throwdown and let-go feeling. And they had plenty of those heavy songs that had the crowd pumping with “Bully”, “The Sound of Madness”, “Planet Zero”, and “Cut The Chord”. They also had a beautiful balance of ballads they performed including “If You Only Knew”, “Second Chance”, “I’ll Follow You” and “A Symptom of Being Human”. Shinedown has so many wonderful singles in their catalog and so many were on display that evening.
The standout item from Shinedown’s performance that night was their incredible production value. They took full advantage of the catwalk using it from end to end. The catwalk had multiple pyrotechnic spots launching flames into the air from the various spots on the catwalk and spots from behind the drumset as well. At one point, they had sparklers falling down from the lighting rafter onto the stage. The band had a piano that flew down from the rafters into the stage that Eric played and Zach played on top of it. Zach named it “Herman” and Brent joked the piano had a new name every evening. And the lighting was truly beautiful throughout the show.
But, it’s their live performances and personalities that make their performances special. I love how Barry provides such awesome drum sounds without a massive drumkit. He does more with less and when he plays, this man plays! His intensity is as strong as his skills and you can see how much he enjoys these performances. Eric is an accomplished bassist, piano player, and has a beautiful singing voice. When he, Zach, and Barry performed a cover of Oasis’s “Don’t Look Back In Anger” he got to show off his vocal chops. It was very impressive. Zach likes to have fun, moving all over the stage as he plays, and calling out to the crowd to get moving. When Zach was playing on top of the piano he didn’t step down off it, he jumped. And of course, the frontman of the group, Brent, is a charismatic leader. He has such control over the crowd who hangs on every word he sings or speaks. When he asks the crowd to get loud, they get loud. When he challenged them to get louder, the crowd stepped up. And when he told the crowd to light up the arena, that arena was lit by cellphones they didn’t even need the venue lighting. Of course, we can’t overlook how accomplished he is as a songwriter and vocalist. His cadence, range, and vocal power are truly amazing.
Shinedown closed out the Orlando show with “Monsters” and “Cut The Chord” in such a memorable fashion. The band was truly appreciative of the crowd being there that evening and the crowd truly loved the performance they provided. You can find music and merch from Shinedown at https://www.shinedown.com.
The Revolutions Live Tour is the rock show of the year with three talented bands who gives their all and leave it all on stage. It was truly a night to remember.
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