by photojournalist Ryan Marchese
Saturday night Benchmark International Arena packed fans to the nosebleeds ready for some hard rock. May 30th marked Shinedown’s stop in Tampa for their current tour: Dance, Kid, Dance Act II and my first night at the venue. Supporting acts for the evening included Coheed & Cambria and Black Stone Cherry. Unfortunately, the press was only allowed to cover the first 3 songs of each supporting act and was not permitted to watch the rest of their performances. This was a huge bummer to myself as well as the other photographers that I sat with for 45-50 minutes between sets in a room where we couldn’t even hear the bands. What made it even more of a downer was how damn good the performances were.
Black Stone Cherry literally and figuratively kicked things off for the night as guitarist Ben Wells ran from one side of the stage to the other delivering kicks through the air. In addition to that he could be seen calling out to fans, raising his guitar up above his head, and sharing moments of shredding with bandmates Chris and Steve. They started their set off with “Me and Mary Jane” from Magic Mountain. “Again” and “Stay” followed the opener and filled the remainder of the press’ time photographing. This was my first time seeing Black Stone Cherry and they were a lot of fun. They brought a hell of a lot of energy to the stage and seemed to be really enjoying themselves as evident by their huge smiles and headbanging. BSC’s set was a great way to get the crowd hyped and ready for the acts to come.
Next up was one of my favorite bands: Coheed and Cambria. I’ve seen them at least 7 times now and met Claudio and his wife, Chondra, multiple times at other events. I’ve been following this band since The Second Stage Turbine Blade debuted 25 years ago. Wild to realize it has been that long since first hearing “Hee-Hee, Sabutie” at the start of “Devil in Jersey City.” “The Pavilion (A Long Way Back)” off of Unheavenly Creatures was C&C’s first song of the night to ease the crowd into a tour of their albums from the last 23 years. “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial)” was next up, and as always, electrified the crowd.
When Claudio wasn’t belting out lyrics into the mic he was skipping around on stage, headbanging, and doing one of his signature moves, singing into his pickups while holding his guitar up in the air. Travis and Zach held down each wing of the stage on guitars while also providing backing vocals, while Josh was in the zone behind Claudio blasting away. The last song the press was privy to was a newer banger from The Father of Make Believe, “Searching for Tomorrow.” Coheed never disappoints with their live performances. Can’t wait for their next tour.
When it came time for Shinedown to take the stage, the lights dimmed in the arena and a spotlight appeared, illuminating a figure donning a box TV for a head. Two figures in ski masks accompanied the TV-headed being and escorted the figure to center stage. “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel blared throughout Benchmark and the figure started to dance along. Shortly after, images started appearing on the TV-head’s screen as well as the large screen behind the stage depicting skyscrapers, bodies of water, decaying architectural interiors, and more until the song concluded. After a brief blackout, the heavy, distorted guitar riffs and blast beats of “Safe and Sound” started, followed by an eruption of pyrotechnics. Frontman Brent Smith stood at the center of the protrusion stage, with Zach and Eric at either side of him. The now absolutely packed arena went wild.
The madness continued with “Devour” next in their set, followed by “Diamond Eyes,” each with moments of fireworks or plumes of smoke bursting into the air. Brent, Zach and Eric all spent a good amount of time running around on stage and interacting with the crowd, but I think Barry’s dreads may have been the most animated of the night, whipping back and forth as he tore up his drum set. Their playlist featured the most tracks from 2008’s The Sound of Madness, with EI8HT having the second most songs played. They also included partial covers of “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down and “The Boys of Summer” by Don Henley. Chris from Black Stone Cherry joined Shinedown on stage for “Sound of Madness” before the band closed out the night with their hit “Second Chance.” With the massive success Shinedown has created, their performances just keep getting bigger, bolder, and louder. I’m already looking forward to the next time they come around.
