There was a Sound of Madness on April 27 in Fort Wayne, Indiana! Shinedown, Three Days Grace and From Ashes to New rolled into town on a Thursday night for the Revolutions Live Tour! They lit the house up and burned it down in front of a sold out crowd at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum! The venue was alive as I entered the venue to pick up my credentials! I met up with the other photographers, and we headed to the pit as a group, weaving our way through the already energetic crowd. Fort Wayne loves Shinedown, and it showed from the incredible week night turnout!

From Ashes to New got things started for the night! The band was formed in 2013 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a rock band that has a rock/metal/rap vibe with a hint of nu metal. They guys got the crowd rowdy by playing hit tracks such as ‘Nightmare’, ‘Hate Me Too’ and ‘Panic‘.

Rock veterans Three Days Grace took the stage next! The Canadian rock band was originally formed in 1992. They kicked off their set with the hit ‘So Called Life’ and played many other favorites like ‘Animal I Have Become’, ‘Pain’, ‘Home’, ‘I Hate Everything About You’, ‘Never Too Late’, and ‘Riot’. They encouraged the crowd to form a pit several times and by the time they played their final song ‘Riot’, a small pit had broken out in the front row. Singer Matt Walst spoke about mental health and the importance of not giving up as well. By the time Three Days Grace closed out their set, the sold out crowd inside the Coliseum was buzzing and ready for Shinedown!

Now it was time for what we had all been waiting for! Shinedown’s set had 2 gigantic video screens that opened from the center as the 4 members of the band slowly walked from the back of the stage to the front, greeting the thousands of fans that had waited all night for this moment! Shinedown is composed of Brent Smith [vocals], Barry Kerch [drums], Zach Myers [guitar], and Eric Bass [bass] and they were formed in Florida back in 2001. They played a 19 song set with 20+ years of hit tracks and a couple surprises mixed in. They kicked the night off with ‘Diamond Eyes’ and kept things rolling all night with many hits such as ‘Dead Don’t Die’, ‘I’ll Follow You’, ‘Bully’, ‘If You Only Knew’, ‘State of My Head’, ‘Sound of Madness’, ‘Planet Zero’, ’45’, ‘Devil’, and ‘Monsters’. During the song ‘I’ll Follow You’, a piano was dropped out of the ceiling and Eric sat down and played the song. During the song, Brent sang from atop the piano and Zach shredded his guitar on top of the piano as well. Covers ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ (Oasis) and ‘Simple Man’ (Lynyrd Skynyrd) were also performed throughout the night. The Shinedown stage is giant, and the band uses every inch of it during their performance. They love their fans and are very interactive throughout their 2-hour set. They also touch on the importance of taking care of your mental health and to reach out if you need help. At the end of the night, they had the lights turned on and encouraged everyone to get up and get jumping. I looked around and from the pit to the top balcony, I don’t think a single person was still seated! The band closed out the night with ‘Cut the Cord’. Shinedown puts on an amazing show that I think everyone should experience at least once in their life!