CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY & REVIEW: Evan J. Thomas trekked up to Milwaukee to cover Shinedown and Zero 9:36 at the legendary The Rave/ Eagles Ballroom, check out his bad ass photography and review. - SEE IT ALL HERE

Shinedown at The Rave/ Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee was a date I had on my calendar for months when this show was announced and I was excited for a few reasons.  1) I've never been to the legendary The Rave/ Eagles Ballroom but I have heard such cool things of this venue, 2) Shinedown headlining, last time I saw them was one of the BEST shows i've EVER seen so the anticipation was high and 3) I got to experience both with my son Brandon as he also got to see one amazing show!

Hailing from Philadelphia, PA, Matthew Cullen or as he is known by Zero 9:36 was the opening act at the sold out The Rave.  Zero is a rapper firmly building a name in the rock genre and his style can be reminiscent of legendary rapper Eminem.  Zero dashed his way back and forth across the massive The Rave stage as he belted out his 30 minute set that featured his hit "Adrenaline".  Zero grabbed the crowd and pulled them in throughout and received an awesome response.  After his set, Brandon and I got the opportunity to meet and talk to Zero for a few minutes and he was gracious to take a photo with us.  It was a great experience for the both of us.

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ZERO 9:36

SHINEDOWN

The anticipation grew for the headliners Shinedown, the dim blue light engulfing the drum set was a cool effect before the lights went dark as vocalist Brent Smith along with band mates, guitarist Zach Myers, bassist Eric Bass and drummer Barry Kerch emerged to the sounds of the rocking "Cut The Cord".  Lathering up the masses was just the beginning of an incredible set. 

To me, Smith is one of the best frontmen in rock music as he commands the audience and connects intimately like he's talking to you and just you even though you are surrounded by thousands.  With nearly 20 years of experience Shinedown has a catalog of music that ranges from hard and heavy to the softer more ballad type where everyone can just sing along.  Shinedown graced us with "Save Me", "State of My Head", "45" but for me the song that got me was their rendition of "Get Up" where Smith asked the crowd to pull out lighters and/or cell phone spotlights that lit up The Rave light fire flies as he belted out the memorable song (see the YouTube video I took).  Finishing off the night the guys rocked out with their cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" and wrapping it up with "Sound of Madness" that had the masses in a tizzy.  

Shinedown has been known for having amazing shows, their 2018 show I covered was one of my favorite shows every and tonight was right up there with that with their performance.  The Milwaukee faithful were not disappointed on this night and as my son Brandon said after and I have to agree, "That was amazing".  Yes it was.  Rock On!

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