Shinedown Brought Their Planet Zero World Tour to Bridgeport Connecticut’s Total Mortgage Arena on April 7, 2023

April 9, 2023
International Concert Reviews
by Jody Wilk Photographer/Writer

Bridgeport rocked out with Shinedown, to a full house, at The Total Mortgage Arena. Upon arriving, I could feel the excitement of the fans that were lined up in front of the arena, almost all the way to the parking lot. Lots of people already had Shinedown shirts on, many newly purchased as they had a merch booth set up outside. Shinedown is on their Planet Zero World Tour with From Ashes to New and Three Days Grace opening the night.

From Ashes to New was the youngest band on the bill having formed in 2013, and releasing their first album, Day One, in 2016. Their most recent release of the Blackout album, “Hate Me Too” was recently tied for #1 on active rock radio. The stage was dimly lit with saturated red lights and smoke. Danny Case commanded the front of the stage while singing “Nightmare,” the first release off Blackout. He was donning what appeared to be a bullet proof vest with the band’s logo on it and matching Fabric of The Universe cargo pants. He was at the front of the catwalk along with rhythm guitarist, Matt Brandyberry who keept the audience’s attention while belting out the vocals on their most popular songs along with the latest releases. When lead guitarist, Lance Dowdle came to the front of the catwalk, he was wearing a creepy half mask with devil-like teeth clenching a knife. I wished they did the cover of The Hu’s “Yuve Yuve Yu” that they released in 2019, but not on this night. Mat Madrio was perched high on a riser at the back of the stage surrounded by his drums and video screens. During the song “Hate Me,” the screens were displaying “I Wish I Hated You,” and “You Should Hate Me Too”. These guys cranked through a short seven-song set, leaving the crowd wanting more!

From Ashes to New is:

Danny Case – Clean Vocals, Unclean Vocals

Matt Brandyberry – Rap Vocals, Keyboards, Programming, Rhythm Guitar, Bass

Lance Dowdle – Lead Guitar, Bass

Mat Madrio – Drums, Percussion

Setlist:

1.Nightmare

2.Heartache

3.Hate Me Too

4.My Name

5.Panic

6.Crazy

7.Thru It All

Three Days Grace was next to take the stage as the crowd was already packed in. They have won many awards over the years, but most recently “So Called Life,” which is what they opened their set with, from their most recent album, Explosions. The song was nominated for MTV music video award for best rock video in 2022, and this year at the iHeart Music Awards was nominated for song of the year.

The stage backlit with red lights and hearts that looked like they were on fire! Looking down the catwalk, the red lights reflected off of it as Matt proceeded down toward the front until white lights illuminated the entire stage. The second song, “I Am Machine,” off the album Human, Matt Walst’s first album with the band released in 2015. The audience was standing throughout the show, some moshing, most with their hands in the air, and everyone singing along to “I Hate Everything About You”. I was trying to figure out what the structure was next to the guitarist. Was it a combination C02 cannon, or just an excessive pick holder. I am guessing latter, as nothing ever came out of it. They rocked their way through a 45-minute set. During the next to last song, “Never Too Late,” the crowd had their cellphone lights lit up and waving back and forth. Matt got the crowd on their feet chanting “Riot, Riot”, they ended a killer set with the song “Riot”.

Three Days Grace is:

Brad Walst – Bass, Backing Vocals

Neil Sanderson – Drums, Backing Vocals, Keyboards

Barry Stock – Lead Guitar

Matt Walst – Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

Setlist:

1.So Called Life

2.I Am Machine

3.Animal I Have Become

4.Pain

5.The Good Life

6.Home

7.I Hate Everything About You

8.Painkiller

9.Never Too Late

10.Riot

The house was packed to the brims as Shinedown came walking down the catwalk on a dark smoky stage with huge Planet Zero logos illuminated in blue and purple. It reminding me of Close Encounters of the Third. This was the third stop on this tour and their first time ever playing in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I was in great anticipation of this, as this was my first Shinedown concert, and they certainly delivered a performance for all the senses. Performing their hits spanning their 22-year career, from hard-rockin’ tunes to a stripped-down acoustic duet.

Starting the set with 2008’s “Diamond Eyes” with the entire crowd on its feet, you could tell this was going to be one killer show. Flames billowing through the stage, air bursts, and concussion flashes stimulated and added to the explosive performance, which made for a sensory overload. They followed this up with the recent single “Dead Don’t Die” which you can watch below.

Suddenly a piano descended from the ceiling outlined in LED lights at the front of the catwalk. This was for the song “I’ll Follow You” in which Eric Bass plays the piano. It was a sight to see looking up from the photo pit when Zach Meyers hopped up on top of the piano to do his part.

There was a pretty good mosh pit going on the right side of the stage up until they played “A Symptom of Being Human.” At this point, everyone in the mosh pit put their arms on the shoulders of their neighbors and were rocking side to side enjoying the unity of the music bringing them together.

The music picked back up quickly with more flames blowing up through the stage, airbursts, and concussion explosions as the band played “Sound of Madness”. The entire arena smelled like a full-on fireworks festival. The crowd singing along to “Second Chance” and “45” was almost deafening. During their acoustic duet of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” the crowd was singing the chorus by themselves, and I think every single person was participating.

Picking it back up and ending the night on a high note, they performed “Monsters” and “Cut the Cord” with more flames and pyro. The band was told Bridgeport would be the loudest crowd on the tour and Brent was making them live up to it by taunting them to get louder and louder. He commented that it was so packed “that you couldn’t fit a damn fart in this place!”.

If you want to experience this sensory overload of a show by Shinedown, on their the Planet Zero World Tour, you can catch them at a major city near you from now through September.

Shinedown is:

Brent Smith – Lead Vocals

Barry Kerch – Drums

Zach Myers – Guitar, Backing Vocals, Piano

Eric Bass – Bass, Backing Vocals, Piano