Shinedown – w/ Jelly Roll and John Harvie

September 13, 2022 – Mansfield, MA

I have a friend who has seen Shinedown about 20 times and I hadn’t seen them at all prior to this night, so I figured, what the hell?

The show started with some dude named John Harvie. I will say, he sucked! Sure, it’s my opinion, but I’ll stand by it. The dude was whiney. I felt like he was trying to be a little punk, a little rock, and a lot emo. And maybe it was just my finely tuned ear, but I’d say he was off key most of the night. But he’s from Tennessee and I guess that fits the theme of the night as all three acts have Tennessee roots.

The next dude was named “Jelly Roll.” With a name like Jelly Roll, I had my doubts. I had not heard of him prior, but my friend Frank who went with me was familiar with his chart-topping rock song Dead Man Walking. It’s a great tune and was played tonight of course. But the show opened with him performing a rap song which immediately had me thinking, “what the hell is going on!?” But then he moved into rock, some country, some more rap, and a bad ass medley. The medley consisted of, Sweet Home Alabama, Smells Like Teen Spirit, 99 Problems, Beer Never Broke My Heart, a little Rage Against the Machine, and more. This medley had the whole place on their feet singing along. It was fantastic. He prob should’ve closed with this because it was certainly the highlight of the show.

He moved on to a few country songs including his hit Son of a Sinner which is actually a really good tune. This dude was great. He has an incredible voice and really seemed to be just walking on cloud nine playing for a crowd this size. Appearance-wise, Jelly Roll was a cross between Ralphie May and Post Malone. Very talented dude and backing band. They were so versatile with their sound and genres. I really enjoyed his performance and was happy to see Shinedown bring him back on stage for Simple Man during their set.

Speaking of Shinedown. Did I love them? No, I did not. I do like Shinedown. Their songs come on often depending on the mix I select when sitting around streaming music throughout the day. I like a lot of their songs which is why I wanted to see them. However, what I realized is that one Shinedown song mixed in with a bunch of other bands is pretty sweet. But 90 minutes straight of Shinedown is too much for me. That’s not to say they’re not a great rock band. From the crowd reaction, they have a ton of loyal fans who know all their songs and lyrics. I’m just telling you how I see it. They played a lot of decent tunes like Second Chance, Monsters, Planet Zero, Cut the Cord, Devil, Bully, and many more. I’m sure you can find the setlist online if inclined.

The singer (Smith) was very preachy. While I love when a band talks with the crowd, tells stories, etc. there was just a lot of “we’re all a family. Love your neighbor” kind of talks like a motivational speaker or something. The rest of the talking was “I’ll count to 3, and then you jump” and “how you all doing tonight?” and “having a good time?”

The best part of the show for me was the acoustic cover of Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis which was sung by the guitar and bass players. This was followed by Simple Man featuring Jelly Roll. So the fact that my favorite part of the night was when they performed two songs that aren’t their originals says something.

I don’t think it was a bad show, as they had a lot of pyros, cool displays, lots of cool stuff in the background, and a good light show. The band is solid and the singer kept his voice intact all night. I just don’t think they’re my particular style which I didn’t realize until it was Shinedown after Shinedown after Shinedown. I usually enjoy them one song at a time. Not 10 in a row.

Now my friend Frank on the other hand, he likes their new stuff that is played on Sirius XM’s Octane. But when they played their songs from 19 years ago, he realized these were the songs he used to immediately change when they came on the radio in the early 2000s. At one point in between songs he turned to me and said, “I just realized, I fucking hate Shinedown!” It was a good laugh.

Would I see them again? If I get free tickets, I absolutely would! Free is for me!