The CCNB Amphitheater at Heritage Park is located just outside of Greenville, South Carolina in Simpsonville, South Carolina. It was a beautiful evening for an outdoor show with mild temps and clear skies. You couldn’t ask for better weather. This was my first time at this venue and the meeting time for the media to be escorted in was 6:15pm. I arrived around 5:45pm and the venue was already packed with fans and the energy was really high. I was surprised at how early people must have arrived. Parking at that time was really full and we were ushered into a parking area a “country mile” away! Just crazy. You knew this was going to be a great show with a very enthusiastic crowd!
The first band, Spiritbox, took the stage a precisely 6:40pm and delivered a very powerful, driving set. I hadn’t really heard much of Spiritbox and I checked them out in the car on the way to the venue. They have a very tight sound that is a cross between Evanescence and Arch Enemy. Courtney LaPlante is a very diverse singer that can handle the softest of sounds and the loudest of guttural vocals which is impressive. Now I was looking forward to seeing their live set. This band from Canada was precise, tight and loud! Their songs are solid and they were very entertaining. I was a bit surprised by such a heavy band to be paired up with Shinedown, but they really got the crowd going and set in motion the energy level for the rest of the evening.
Spiritbox is:
Courtney LaPlante (Vocals)
Michael Stringer (Guitar)
Zev Rose (Drums)
Josh Gilbert (Bass)
Spiritbox Set List:
1.) Jaded
2.) Hurt You
3.) Yellowjacket
4.) Rotoscope
5.) The Void
6.) Circle With Me
7.) Holy Roller
I was really looking forward to seeing Papa Roach again. I had the opportunity to photograph them in Chicago when they toured with Nickeback ten or more years ago. I knew that Jacoby Shaddix was going to put on a great show and he always delivers a great performance for the camera. Their stage set was very modern and their lighting was complex. This was really, to me, a dual headlining concert between Papa Roach and Shinedown. Two very distinct stage and lighting sets instead of the opener using the same stage having their instruments in front of the headliners backline. I was happy to see the effort put into this show to make each band stand out. For each band the photographers were only able to shoot from the soundboard in the middle of the venue but seeing how the stage was set up there really wasn’t anywhere down in front to shoot from. As the sun set and Papa Roach’s light show lit up the venue, the soundboard was actually a pretty cool place to see the band’s performance. As I expected, Jacoby Shaddix was as energetic as I remembered from many years ago. He is a great frontman and really puts his all into every performance. After the three song limit we were ushered to the side stage area to wait for our time with Shinedown. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see the stage but we could hear everything. Papa Roach ripped through song after song and it was great just to listen to them while reviewing images on the back of my camera. One of the ballads that Papa Roach played really showed off the talented vocal ability of Jacoby Shaddix. I really enjoyed how they sounded.
Papa Roach is:
Jacoby Shaddix (Vocals)
Jerry Horton (Guitar, Backing Vocals)
Tobin Esperance – (Bass, Programming, Backing Vocals)
Tony Palermo – (Drums)
Touring Member:
Anthony “Twan” Esperance – (Rhythm Guitar, Keyboard, Percussion)
Papa Roach Set List:
1.) Between Angels and Insects
2.) Kill the Noise
3.) Getting Away With Murder
4.) California Love (2Pac cover)
5.) Firestarter (The Prodigy cover)
6.) Born for Greatness
7.) Scars
8.) No Apologies
9.) Leave a Light On
10.) Forever
11.) …To Be Loved
12.) Help
13.) Last Resort
In anticipation of photographing this show, I did some research on YouTube and found some fan filmed shows that were pretty recent. I also had a good friend see them two nights before in New Jersey and she gave me a play-by-play of what happens in the first three songs. If all stays the same, I knew what to expect and that was extremely helpful. The Shinedown stage set was very different and it had this really tall video wall that showed some fun behind-the-scenes videos of the guys in the band joking around and having fun. Although, it was a bit lengthy with the anticipation of the band taking the stage it was fun to watch. Then the video wall opened up and the four band members walked out on the stage and greeted the crowd before taking their places and starting the first song. It was a different approach to opening a rock show, but it was a nice touch. Brent Smith and Zach Myers were perpetual motion machines on that stage. The most surprising part of the first three songs was actually good and bad. The lighting in the first song was very minimal on the band members at the front of the stage, but the drummer, Barry Kerch, was perfectly lit which never happens! Usually, we have to hope for some light to get pics of the drummer but this was completely the opposite. It was hard to get pics of the other band members instead. It got better after the first song and by the third song, when the piano dropped from the roof of the amphitheater for the ballad, the lighting did get better. I love a challenge but I was surprised by this one. After the third song all of the photographers were escorted out of the venue and you either put your camera in your car and returned to the show if you had a ticket, or you were done for the night. I did have a ticket but I didn’t feel that I wanted to leave expensive camera gear in the trunk of my car so I had to leave at that point. Overall, the three songs I saw of Shinedown were great. I know they had to have delivered a great set for everyone there that evening.
Shindown is:
Brent Smith – (Lead Vocals)
Zach Myers – (Guitar, Backing Vocals)
Barry Kerch – (Drums)
Eric Bass – (Bass Guitar, Piano, Backing Vocals)
Shinedown Setlist:
1.) Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)
2.) Dead Don’t Die
3.) I’ll Follow You
4.) State of My Head
5.) Amaryllis
6.) Devil
7.) Unity
8.) Save Me
9.) 45
10.) Enemies
11.) Planet Zero
12.) A Symptom of Being Human
13.) Sound of Madness
14.) Second Chance
15.) The Middle (Jimmy Eat World cover)
16.) Daylight / Get Up
17.) Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)
18.) Monsters
19.) Cut the Cord
Follow Spiritbox online:
Follow Papa Roach online:
Follow Shinedown online:
Scott Diussa is a photographer, guitarist, bassist, videographer and audio engineer based in the Nashville, Tennessee area. Scott has been photographing concerts since 1994 and has a degree in commercial photography. You can follow Scott on Instagram at @sdiussa. www.scottdiussa.com
