Shinedown with The Pretty Reckless Concert Review
Peoria Civic Center
Peoria, Illinois
Saturday April 9th 2022

 

Shinedown and live rock is back! It has been 584 days since they last toured. They are joined on the Planet Zero tour by The Pretty Reckless and DIAMANTE. Shinedown’s album ATTENTION ATTENTION was recently certfied gold by the RIAA. They will be releasing their seventh studio album Planet Zero April 22nd. Their lead single “Planet Zero” was the band’s 18th Active Rock Radio #1 hit. The latest single “The Saints of Violence and Innuendo” seems to be a statement on social media or maybe its just about a dystopian,  fictional world. Fans are highly anticipating their new album.  It is to be a “a critical yet optimistic look at the fractures and frays of a society that has undergone many challenges in recent years, the album is part social commentary and part in-depth exploration of the human psyche.” in an article on Blabbermouth.  

The video for “Planet Zero” features the Invisible House in Joshua Tree that you can actually rent on AirBnB. It is visually stunning and reminiscent of The Matrix.

DIAMANTE is the mononymous band of Diamante Azzura Bovelli. The Mexican-Italian-American brings a hard pop rock dynamic to the tour. Her independent, sophomore album American Dream is set for release on May 7, 2022. DIAMANTE teamed up with Howard Benson and Neil Sanderson to create this album “bringing my stories to life and pushing me to embrace my vulnerabilities.” according to her Spotify bio. DIAMANTE got the crowd in the mood to rock out. Her voice is pure and the songs are definitely catchy. She performed “American Dream”, “I Love Myself for Hating You”, and had a sing along with the Goo Goo Dolls cover of “Iris”. She is a beautiful woman and was held the audience’s full attention. She was dressed in a white, sequined leotard similar to a Cirque Du Soleil performer. After her set, she met with fans in person and posed with pictures with them as well as autographed whatever they wanted.

 

  

The Pretty Reckless is a rock band consisting of former model, actor, singer Taylor Momsen (Gossip Girl, How The Grinch Stole Christmas), Ben Phillips lead guitarist, Jamie Perkins drums, and Mark Damon bassist. The Pretty Reckless has been out of touring and really the public eye from 2016 until their release of Death by Rock and Roll released on February 12, 2021. Taylor reminded us that she was in Peoria in 2014. I was lucky enough to see them then in Peoria in 2014 and also at Rock On The Range. I did miss their live performances. It was the first time seeing the band for many fans. The Pretty Reckless music consist of hard rock anthem songs with captivating lyrics and melodies and screaming guitars. Taylor talks about how writing that album and getting back to music helped save her from a deep depression in an interview in Nylon Magazine.

Taylor Momsen is a hypnotic performer. She was dressed in a black leather black mini-dress with a black leather jacket and knee-high platform boots. She walked up and down the long stage almost like walking a catwalk but singing the entire time. Her voice was magnificent. Her Mezzo-Soprano voice is strong and contradicts her thin frame. The tone and pitch were amazing. Plus, the songs rocked on every level. When you hear songs like “Going to Hell” and “Death by Rock and Roll” and “Only Love Can Save Me Now” once, you can sing along and then they become an ear-worm that you will be humming for days. The only bad thing about the set was that it was too short. We could have spent a lot longer time with The Pretty Reckless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stage was set with a pair of thirty-foot LED screens in the back that were angled to a point so they could be seen by each side. There was long and wide catwalk with two small platforms on either side at the end. The screens parted with a hieroglyphic image of SD and out walked the band shrouded in shadows. All the members walked to the end of the catwalk, greeted the crowd and then walked to their respective instruments. Shinedown started the night with their new song, “The Saints of Violence and Innuendo” The first song burst out with a bang with fireworks and fire. The pyrotechnics were underneath the wide catwalk and shot straight up. It was hot!

In addition to ATTENTION ATTENTION the album being certified gold, Shinedown has also released ATTENTION ATTENTION the movie.  Brent Smith wanted to let us all know the movie was out on the streaming service of your choice. The setlist contained “45”, “Enemies”, “Bully”, “Unity”, “Simple Man”, “Second Chance” and so on. After two hours, we could have stayed even longer to hear all the songs that we love. Shinedown is an anomaly in the hard rock world. They sing about addiction, bullying, suicide, and love and all without expletives. Shinedown fans were varied in age from five years old to retiree age. Everyone singing along with passion and adoration.
 

I have seen Shinedown many times and their performances gets better and better with each tour. Brent Smith spoke to the support that they get from their fans and he made it a point to communicate that they are ‘besides themselves with gratitude’. In that spirit, we felt valued as fans and did feel like we were personally responsible for their success. Every T-shirt, cd, meet and greet, download helps them to provide amazing shows. If you are a fan, do not miss Shinedown if they come to your area. If you are not a fan, you will be after attending one of their shows. Find out where on their website:
Shinedown.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                

Sources: https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/shinedown-releases-planet-zero-music-video/
https://www.nylon.com/nylon-nights/a-night-in-with-taylor-momsen
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