A positive ‘Atmosphere’
WINTERFRESH SNOCORE TOUR
featuring
SHINEDOWN
SEETHER
FLYLEAF
HALESTORM
Rams Head Live
Baltimore, MD
February 28, 2006
By GREG MAKI
It was with disappointment that I looked upon Shinedown’s
set list as it was taped to the floor of the stage just prior
to the start of their show. The reason for my dismay? “Atmosphere,”
one of the best pure Southern rock songs since the heyday
of Lynyrd Skynyrd and by far my favorite track from either
of Shinedown’s albums, was conspicuously absent. It
didn’t keep me down for long, though. All the other
favorites were present, and having seen Shinedown live before,
I knew we were in for a passionate, energetic performance.
The band took the stage and immediately launched into “Heroes,”
the lead track from their most recent CD, Us and Them.
The set struck a good balance between songs from the new album
and their debut Leave a Whisper, with the earlier
tracks – “45,” “Burning Bright”
and the Skynyrd cover “Simple Man” (dedicated
to Dimebag Darrell) – generally getting a bigger audience
response. But it’s the Us and Them tracks,
with their stronger Southern feel, that truly stand out.
The Winterfresh SnoCore Tour has featured many notable bands
over the years. I guess none of them interested me before
as I cannot recall who they are. This year’s co-headliners,
Shinedown and Seether, don’t do anything particularly
original, but they do what they do so well that it doesn’t
matter. The tour also is introducing larger audiences to two
new acts that deserve to be seen.
The first band of the night, Halestorm, blew me away, plain
and simple. Singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale has a Joplin-esque,
powerhouse voice. She is one of the best singers, male or
female, I have heard in a long time. The band’s not
too shabby either, playing soulful, riff-driven hard rock.
They currently have only a five-song live EP available. I
can’t wait to hear more.
Next up was Flyleaf, another female-fronted band. There seems
to be some debate over whether they are a Christian band.
Reading the lyrics and listening to some of what singer Lacey
Mosely had to say on stage, it’s clear that that is
probably where her beliefs lie. But it isn’t blatant
and never feels as though she is preaching. What I get out
of it is a positive message about staying true to your beliefs.
I don’t think that is limited to a Christian way of
thinking. Of course, it helps that the band rocks and that
Mosely can both sing and rip out a ferocious scream. They
played most of the debut self-titled CD, with “Fully
Alive” and the single “I’m So Sick”
as the highlights.
I don’t know if they are too many bands that pull off
Pantera and Nirvana. Seether is one of them. After dedicating
“Fine Again” earlier in the set to Dimebag and
Dave Williams of Drowning Pool, they slipped the first verse
of “Walk” into “Because of Me.” Singer/guitarist
Shaun Morgan then did one of the eeriest vocal impersonations
I’ve ever heard on a cover of “Heart Shaped Box.”
If you listened to a recording of it, only the most hardcore
Nirvana fans would be able to tell it was not Kurt Cobain
(which is a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at
it).
About halfway through the set, Morgan introduced Seether’s
biggest hit, the power ballad “Broken,” by saying,
“This is the one we did with that chick [referring to
Amy Lee of Evanescence, his former girlfriend] … But
we’re gonna bring someone better out on stage tonight.”
Enter Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale. And was she ever better
than Lee. I’m biased because the original acoustic version
of “Broken” is my favorite Seether song, but Lee
completely ruined it for me. Hale redeemed it with her performance.
I hope this duet has been recorded or will be at a future
show. It really should be preserved. Afterward, Morgan added,
“No, she’s not my new girlfriend. Just two friends
doing a badass version of that song.”
Seether’s set featured all the other favorites, including
the opener “Gasoline,” “Needles,”
“Truth” and the closer “Remedy.” The
band doesn’t quite have the stage presence of a headliner,
so it was good that Shinedown closed the show. Between Hale
and Shinedown’s Brent Smith, there is no shortage of
talented vocalists on this tour. Though his talk between songs
(one song was dedicated to “all the dreamers”
in the crowd) was a bit on the clichéd side, it’s
hard to doubt Smith’s sincerity. And like that of Flyleaf,
his message is overwhelmingly positive, something that is
lacking in a lot of today’s music.
The hit single “Save Me” closed out Shinedown’s
set, and with no other songs listed and the band taking its
time saying goodbye from the stage, it appeared the show was
over. A few minutes later, the band returned and guitarist
Jasin Todd began the unforgettable riff of “Atmosphere.”
It was a perfect end a great night of music.
SHINEDOWN SET LIST: Heroes, Left Out, Fly From the Inside, I Dare You, 45, Burning Bright, Yer Majesty, Simple Man, Begin Again, Save Me, (encore) Atmosphere
http://www.shinedown.com
http://www.seether.com
http://www.flyleafmusic.com
http://www.halestormrocks.com |
