Live Review: Diehard Fan Direct Messages Shinedown 66 days In A Row and His Wish Was Granted at Their Show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut On July, 17, 2026

July 21, 2026
International Concert Reviews, International Galleries
by Jody Wilk Photographer/Writer

Shinedown brought their Dance Kid Dance: Act II tour to Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena on July 17th, 2026, fresh on the heels of the release of their album EI8HT. The 10,000-seat arena was SOLD OUT for the show, which had From Ashes to New and Coheed and Cambria as openers for the evening. Fans were lined up early to get their chance to get a good space against the rail with their pit tickets. Excitement was high, as diehard fans knew about the unusual stage setup that Shinedown had for this tour. It consisted of the usual main stage and catwalk but then had a small middle stage, which then had two more catwalks protruding out and forward of that stage. This took up a huge part of the arena floor and made it possible to have interaction with more fans than the usual main stage only.

Hailing from Pennsylvania, rock band From Ashes to New took to the stage at 7 pm for a short 30-minute set which included songs from 3 of their 5 albums. This high-energy band brings a mix of rap vocals and clean and unclean vocals to the stage with a mostly hard rock feel. Vocalists Matt Brandyberry and Danny Case’s voices make for a unique mix, draw you in, and leave you wondering what is next. They kicked off the set with “New Disease” off of their most recent release entitled Reflections, which came out in April of this year. Plowing non-stop through their seven-song set, they ended with “Panic” off of the 2020 album of the same name.

From Ashes to New is:

Matt Brandyberry – Rap vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, programming, bass, unclean vocals

Lance Dowdle – Lead guitar, bass

Mat Madiro – Drums, percussion

Danny Case – Lead vocals

Jimmy Bennett – Rhythm guitar, bass

Setlist:

1. New Disease

2. Nightmare

3. Heartache

4. Drag Me

5. Barely Breathing

6. Die for You

7. Panic

Progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria, fronted by Claudio Sanchez, was the second crowd pleaser of the night. Most of Coheed’s releases are concept albums based on a series written by Claudio called The Amory Wars. They hit the stage running with “A Favor House Atlantic” and kept the fans on their feet with a high-energy performance for about 45 minutes. They played about 10 songs spanning their musical career, including three off of Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believe. During the last song, “Welcome Home”, Claudio was playing his double-neck guitar and ran up to the middle stage with a four-foot ladder and used it against the strings of the guitar, and the crowd was cheering wildly.

Coheed and Cambria is:

Claudio Sanchez – Lead vocals, guitar, keyboards

Travis Stever – Guitar, backing vocals

Josh Eppard – Drums, percussion, backing vocals, keyboards

Zach Cooper – Bass, backing vocals

Shinedown took to the stage at 9 pm to a crowd that was full of excitement from 2 high-energy bands that just graced the stage. Missing from the band was Eric Bass, who has taken a leave from the first portion of this tour due to a mental health crash. Josh Sturm and Zack Mack stepped in to fill the spot until Eric returns. They opened the set with “Safe and Sound” off of their new album EI8HT, which was just released May 26 of this year. Right from the first note and widespread throughout their set were pyro, concussion blasts, and fireworks, which kept the fans alert. Lead vocalist Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers made good use of the front catwalks to get close to their fans. The first 8 songs were performed with most of the band on the main stage and consisted of a mix of songs from their career, including a couple more from the new album.

Shinedown came forward to the middle stage and slowed things down a bit with “Call Me”, a fan favorite off of The Sound of Madness, to which the crowd helped sing along. Zach let the fans know that drummer Barry Kerch threw his back out at around 5 pm before the show and was on medicine for pain but was pushing his way through. His pain can be seen in some of the photos I captured of him. Before “Thick as Thieves”, Brent poked a little fun at himself that he had his “janky iPad” in front of him because he couldn’t remember the words even though he wrote the song.

Still on the middle stage, they stopped the show to tell a story about a fan, Jacob, who had sent them DM’s for 66 days before the show requesting that they play “Asking for It.” Zach said, “Some of you make signs, and that’s dedication. Some of you send us dm’s and that’s dedication, and I appreciate it. And some send a dm for 66 days asking for a song.” They then brought up Zach’s inbox on the big screen and scrolled through it, showing the 66 dm’s that Jacob sent with him on the screen beside it. And then, in a plot twist, Jacob wore a shirt requesting an entirely different song. Brent teased him, calling him “a needy, needy fan”. Brent ended up going down on the floor and let Jacob sing some of the song with him.

From there it was back to the main stage for nine more songs that could have been a full set in itself. Not only did it include some of my favorite songs like ” Cut the Cord”, “A Symptom of Being Human”, Second Chance”, and “Sound of Madness”, but it also included a few cover songs as well. Zach Myers did a solo snippet of “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down and had the crowd sing along. Then they played “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and had the fans sing along to the last part of the song as a tribute to Brad Arnold, who passed in February of this year. The crowd was on their feet from the start of the show to the last note. Shinedown knows how to keep the fans full of adrenaline throughout the show.

Shinedown is:

Brent Smith – Lead Vocals

Barry Kerch – Drums

Zach Myers – Guitar, piano, backing vocals

Eric Bass – Bass, piano, backing vocals, guitar (*absent from this portion of tour)

Josh Sturm – Bass (substitute for Eric Bass)

Zack Mack – Guitar, piano (substitute for Eric Bass)