Shinedown brought their Dance, Kid, Dance tour to the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, in midtown Manhattan, New York on July 20, 2025. It was their first time playing this legendary venue, and the packed house helped make the night a very special one for everyone involved. Bush and Morgan Wade opened the show.
Morgan Wade was a clever choice to open this show. Shinedown is a genre-busting act which chooses openers based on talent more than anything else. Although Morgan is a country singer, her band generated a bit more noise than some of her recordings do, which helped fill the large arena with a rocking sound. Morgan has a very cool southern drawl in her voice, and her songs went over well. She threw in a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” which sounded great. She finished off with her hit single from a few years back, “Wilder Days”, which is an excellent song. Her touring band finished off the set with the outro of “Creeping Death” by Metallica, firing up the fans for the heavier music yet to come. Hopefully, those who showed up for her set were exposed to a different style of music, which has its own variety and tons of amazing artists, and Ms. Wade walked away with many new fans.
Band Members:
Morgan Wade – Lead Vocals, Guitar
Setlist:
1.High in Your Apartment
2. Roses
3. Meet Somebody
4. The Night
5. The Party Is Over
6. Creep (Radiohead cover)
7. Wilder Days
Bush made it to the mountain top immediately upon the release of their first album, Sixteen Stone, back in the 1990s. They are currently surging again, as demonstrated by their fantastic brand-new songs mixed into a set that had fans new and old rocking throughout the night. Vocalist Gavin Rossdale took full advantage of the massive stage set up, singing all over the place. He even took a stroll through the entire floor section and climbed way up into the stands during one song. He is a ball of energy, passion, and movement. His showmanship elevated their songs to even higher levels on this night.
Band Members:
Gavin Rossdale – Lead Vocals, Guitar
Chris Traynor – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Nik Hughes – Drums
Corey Britz – Bass, Backing Vocals
Setlist:
1.Scars
2. Machinehead
3. The Land of Milk and Honey
4. Everything Zen
5. Greedy Fly
6. I Beat Loneliness
7. 60 Ways To Forget People
8. More Than Machines
9. Flowers on a Grave
10. Glycerine
11. Comedown
Finally, it was time for Shinedown to deliver a magical 2-hour show. The stage was massive and extremely fan-friendly. There was a large stage on one end of the arena, with a giant video wall behind it. A long catwalk led to a secondary stage near what is usually center court or center ice, depending on the night. It did not stop there, as two diagonal catwalks branched out from the center to additional smaller stages. As the show began, only drummer Barry Kerch manned the main stage, along with awesome bursts of fire from above and below. Lead vocalist Brent Smith appeared out of the smoke on the center stage, while guitarist Zach Myers and bassist/keyboardist Eric Bass performed from the two smaller stages. The show was on like gangbusters as they blasted one of their excellent new singles, “Dance, Kid, Dance”. Their opening set kept the energy high as they tore through fan favorites from throughout their two-decade-long career.
The middle of the show was performed on the center stage, with a more mellow vibe. This set consisted of highly emotionally charged sing-along songs – “If You Only Knew”, “Get Up”, and “Call Me”. Zach Myers typically crafts each night’s unique set list, but he pointed out that Brent Smith had selected the songs for this special night, and he dug deep into the catalog, finishing the set with the rarely performed “In Memory” from their very first album. Long time fans loved these song choices and sang along with every ounce of emotion that they had.
The final set was a brilliant mix of everything that makes Shinedown one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. Their ability to amp up the voltage, bring it back down, and surge again, all while taking the crowd on an emotional roller coaster ride, makes for a career full of legendary concerts. It seemed that every cell phone was lit for “A Symptom Of Being Human”, and every voice was soaring in unison on “Simple Man”. Feet were moving and smiles were glowing along with the pyrotechnics. This was truly one for the memory books.
Band Members:
Brent Smith – Lead Vocals
Zach Myers – Guitar
Barry Kerch – Drums
Eric Bass – Bass, Keyboards
Setlist:
Main Stage
1. Dance, Kid, Dance
2. Fly From the Inside
3. Cut the Cord
4. How Did You Love
5. Devil
6. Three Six Five
7. Enemies
Center Stage
8. If You Only Knew
9. Get Up
10. Call Me
11. In Memory
Main Stage
12. Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)
13. A Symptom of Being Human
14. Planet Zero
15. Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)
16. Monsters
17. Sound of Madness
18. Second Chance
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Johnnie Crow is a lifelong music lover. He has photographed artists from every genre at concerts, festivals and cruises all across North America.