ATLANTIC CITY, NJ—Puddle Of Mudd opened up for Shinedown and the sold out crowd was totally into them. The first song was “Control,” followed by some tight, friendly, solid drumming from Ryan Yerdon on “Spaceship,” a song off their successful album, Songs In The Key Of Love And Hate, and then “Famous.”
The band had that classic “grunge” look and lead singer Wes Scantlin really sang his heart out on every song and the fans appreciated that. When the band played “Psycho” there was some solid audience participation taking place and bassist Doug Ardito really rocked it.
The next song was very unexpected when the band covered AC/DC’s mega hit “TNT!” They really made this song their own and the crowd was really rockin’ at this point. Lead guitarist Paul Phillips really shined on this song. A great acoustic version of “Thinking About You” mellowed out the crowd and then “Drift And Die” followed that. At this point the crowd was treating this opening act as if they were a headliner and the band responded and closed things out with a goose bump version of “She Hates Me.” I think a lot of guys could relate to that song and the band left the stage leaving the crowd wanting more, and soon enough they got it when Wes made his way over to autograph some items for the fans.
Shinedown had a large white curtain that did its best to hide the band and when it came down they opened up with “Sound Of Madness.” The song was bangin’ and lead singer Brent Smith looked cool in his shades.
During “Devour” the light show was impressive and they were extremely fast which made for an interesting back drop.
Eric Bass set the tone with a heavy bass line on the song “Save Me.” The band really got the crowd into each and every song and at one point they had the audience jumping up and down literally shaking the floor of the venue. The band surprised the crowd covering the Otis Redding hit, “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay.” It was a nice moment that broke up the show in a positive way and lead guitarist Zach Myers was solid here.
The song “What A Shame” slowed things down and fans enjoyed that and many of the tracks from the band’s latest release, The Sound Of Madness. Myers had a guitar solo and that slowed down the show even more. They played one more song and then they were ready for the encores which included a memorable cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.” The crowd loved it but they were subdued at the same time. After the song there was a long, uncomfortable pause that seemed to last forever. Perhaps it was an equipment issue but it took the sting out of the final song, “Second Chance.”
All in all this tour is a must-see. The prices were reasonable and the bands played their hearts out!
