SHINEDOWN / BUSH / MORGAN WADE – LIVE AT MSG

SHINEDOWN / BUSH / MORGAN WADE – LIVE AT MSG

By Joe Perusse

Shinedown, Bush and Morgan Wade at Madison Square Garden – New York City

Shinedown made their Madison Square Garden headlining debut in a way that felt like they’d been owning that stage for years. The Dance, Kid, Dance Tour brought pure energy from start to finish, kicking off with Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” blasting through the speakers and a mysterious TV-headed dancer hyping up the crowd. Just when you thought that was the show’s intro, boom—Brent Smith, Zach Meyers, and Eric Bass popped up on the center stage and launched straight into “Dance, Kid, Dance.” The Garden was lit—literally—with the first of many bursts of pyro as drummer Barry Kerch hammered away up on the main stage.

The band wasted no time. “Fly From the Inside” set the tone, then Smith welcomed everyone and dropped into a charged “Cut the Cord.” Bass took over the keys for “How Did You Love,” and the fire and smoke during “Devil” made it clear—this wasn’t just a concert, it was a full-on spectacle. Smith gave a heartfelt shoutout to their openers and talked about Musicians on Call—a nonprofit that brings live music to patients in hospitals, supported in part by every ticket sold.

Disco balls twirled above the crowd for “Three Six Five,” and Smith shared how much it meant to finally play MSG, especially with so many of their families in the audience. “Enemies” turned the whole place into a bouncing wave of fists in the air, and during a quick interlude, the dancing TV head returned—this time in a Knicks jersey—before the band moved to center stage.

Meyers took the mic to introduce the crew, thanked the military, and had a little fun calling out his third-grade math teacher—yep, he really made it. The intimate set featured “If You Only Knew,” “Get Up” (with Bass on piano), “Call Me,” and “In Memory,” which somehow included a lightsaber duel between Smith and Meyers. Just MSG things.

Back on the main stage, “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)” brought a killer solo from Meyers, and “A Symptom of Being Human” was a moment—Bass up on the piano platform, high above the drum riser, the entire arena glowing with cell phone lights. Kerch practically shook the floor with “Planet Zero,” and the Skynyrd cover “Simple Man” had thousands of voices singing along. “Monsters” and “Sound of Madness” hit hard, and they wrapped it all up with “Second Chance” for one last punch.

Hands down—vocally and musically—this was one of the tightest sets I’ve seen this year. Every note hit, every transition was clean, and massive props to the sound crew—it was one of the clearest, most well-balanced arena mixes I’ve heard.

Bush came on right before Shinedown and absolutely delivered. They kicked off with “Scars” before Gavin Rossdale strapped on his guitar, joining Chris Traynor and tore into “Machinehead,” while Nik Hughes went wild behind the kit. Rossdale made his way to the center stage early on and talked about how surreal it was to be playing the Garden. “The Land of Milk and Honey” and “Everything Zen” kept the momentum up, and Corey Britz shook the rafters with the low end on “Greedy Fly.”

They slid in the title track from their new album, “I Beat Loneliness,” with Rossdale still trying to figure out the massive stage layout—but honestly, he barely stayed on it. During “60 Ways to Forget People,” he was down at the rail with fans, and later for “Flowers on a Grave,” he took a lap through the crowd, made it to the 100-level seats, and somehow still made it back in time for the outro. The band played “More Than Machines” in between. Rossdale slowed things down for a solo “Glycerine,” then the band rejoined to close with a powerful “Comedown” that had the crowd right there with them.

Morgan Wade opened the night and won over the room quickly. She seemed genuinely excited to be on tour—and especially to have met Brent Smith’s parents, which she called “so cool.” Her set was short but strong, and the crowd lit up their phones for her haunting cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.”

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