Live Review: Shinedown - O2 Apollo, Manchester 27/11/2022
One of the world’s fastest rising rock bands Shinedown return to Manchester for a life-affirming set in a venue the size they’ll likely never play again.
Though it of course would depend on your definition of rock music, by and large it’s not a genre that I’ve spent a huge amount of time with. Rightly or wrongly, this was based on the assumption that, at least for the most part, rock bands all sound the same.
The jury might still be out on that one, yet what tonight’s show proves, and Shinedown in particular, is that it just doesn’t matter. If it sounds good, makes you feel something and is a whole lot of fun in the process, where’s the problem?
It’s something tonight’s capacity crowd at Manchester’s O2 Apollo can attest to. Arriving uncharacteristically early with the intention of catching main support Asking Alexandria, it’s clear it’s going to be a busy one, with the queue for merch snaking from the foyer halfway up the venue’s stairs. A cost-of-living crisis there might be, but it doesn’t stop people forking out £40 for a T-shirt. It is worth noting however, the venue recently came under fire for taking a hefty cut of band’s merch sales so it’s hardly surprising.
Industry politics aside, there’s the small matter of the aforementioned Asking Alexandria to attend to. A band I’m familiar with purely through their time as a metalcore outfit, it’s clear that things have changed a fair bit since then.
That doesn’t mean to say that era of the band isn’t represented tonight however. A 45 minute set equally as hinged on the angstier, older material as much as it is the more encompassing stadium-ready later material, the band make full use of a massively reduced stage space; each member mounting monitors and running the entire width of the stage.
Indeed, it’s impressive that they’re just a main support, with pyrotechnics exploding during the fittingly titled ‘Into the Fire’. It’s continued into further tracks such as ‘Alone Again’, the pyro matching an impactful drum beat that only bolsters the crowd in the evening’s first sing-along. It’s a set delivered with conviction, and one that proves that even though late ‘00s metalcore bands may have seemed like one trick ponies, many of them harboured the chops to take it all the way. The only thing questionable about their set was singer Danny Worsnop’s shirt.
Of course, as good as Asking Alexandria may be, it’s tonight’s headliners that this capacity crowd are here to see. It takes little time between bands for the stage to clear and the house lights to dim; a video screen behind flickers, before playing footage of the band both backstage and on tour, bathing the venue in light.
From this moment on it’s clear that Shinedown aren’t your typical rock band. There’s a sense of wholesomeness that’s laid out by the video and set in stone throughout a mammoth two hour set. Opening with ‘The Saints of Violence and Inuendo’, they whip the crowd into an immediate frenzy; the stalls beneath us becoming a heaving mass of bodies and sporadic moshpits the minute they start.
For someone unfamiliar with the band, they’d assume this was an ambitious start, especially when soon followed by the eponymous lead single from recent album Planet Zero. And it is. These are two recent single offerings that are lynchpins of the record this tours in support of and as such would be expected to come later in the set.
This, however, would be underestimating Shinedown. There’s a reason 2000 people are here and it’s not just the band’s recent releases. Indeed, it’s a set chock full of singles that span their career, with each track that features across tonight’s 19 song set being a single release.
As such, every song is met with a wild crowd response that sees even those of us in the balcony on our feet from early on; tracks such as ‘Bully’, ‘Enemies’ and ‘Second Chance’ all spur a crowd reaction any other band would be envious of, yet Shinedown take it their stride. Looking around, the latter track has not just myself in tears, but the burly metal head three seats down, and many others dotted around the venue. It’s a testament to just how much Shinedown mean to so many.
While from the outside the band’s message may look and feel trite, cliché even. The fact remains that this is a band that have clearly helped people through some heavy moments in their life. And no-one can take that away from them.
Of course, while their setlist may be predicated entirely on singles, the latter third features a couple of covers that go down fantastically well. The first plays to their audience perfectly, with an excellent rendition of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, which, in spite of the distinct lack of bucket hats, sees the crowd almost drown out the band with a rousing sing-along. The second comes in the form of Skynard’s ‘Simple Man’ a fitting cover that provokes an equally rousing and emotional response from the crowd.
As one would expect however, the finale comes in the form of the band’s breakthrough hit ‘Sound of Madness’, it provides the crowd with one more moment to lose their collective shit. And as the huge number of people below us erupts once against into a turbulent sea of heaving bodies, we know that this is a band destined for bigger things and bigger stages,
And just like that, one of the best shows we’ve ever been to is over. As hyperbolic as that may sound, it’s entirely truthful. Emotional, impactive, rousing, Shinedown aren’t so much the antithesis of nihilistic rock music, as much as they are the epitome of how to do arena rock right, this is absolutely the last time we will see them in a venue this size. We have it on good authority. Trust me.
Words by Dave Beech
Photos by Leon Mansley
