Pop Break Live: Smith & Myers of Shinedown at The Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ
I have been watching Shinedown play for at least 15 years. I remember seeing them at Convention Hall in Asbury Park for the first time and being blown away by the power of Brent Smith’s voice. Over the years I have always been impressed with his range, and the band in general. Hell, when I got married three years ago their cover of “Simple Man” was played at my wedding.
Smith & Myers, is of course, Shinedown singer Brent Smith, and the incredible Zach Myers playing guitar and sometimes keyboard. I had never seen Smith & Myers play acoustic live and I was excited to head down to Starland Ballroom last Friday night to check them out. I knew the last round of tour dates sold out, and I had watched a bunch of clips on youtube, so I knew it was going to be good.
The show had no opener and by the time the guys took the stage a little after 9 p.m., the packed house was ready. They opened with “Wanted Dead Or Alive” by Jersey’s own Bon Jovi, and the crowed had no problem at all singing backup for Smith. It sounded beautiful.
I went in there thinking I knew what to expect; a bunch of stripped down Shinedown songs and some covers. And I got that, in spades. But a Smith & Myers show is more than just that. It’s almost like a storyteller’s session, with the guys trading stories and laughs. Of course this was led by Smith and he told the crowd us the background about a lot of the songs they played, and it was nice to get that little bit of inside information.
When you see someone play and it’s just vocals and one guitar, you can’t hid behind either. If you aren’t good at singing or playing, it is going to show. In this case, it helped to shine a light on just how good these two guys are. Almost 20 years of singing has only made Smith’s voice stronger. They ran through the hits – “Bully,” “Call Me,” “The Crow & Butterfly” and 15 or so other Shinedown classics.
The new single “Get Up” sounded great with the crowd singing along. Before they played that Smith told the story about how one of their band members was diagnosed with clinical depression and how the song is a call to arms. A reminder that you can have the best job in the world but still struggle. A shoutout to everyone else out there that might struggle. You are not alone. There is hope.
Towards the end of the set Zach Myers took the lead. He said he learned a song that day for Smith, and he wanted to play it for us. He then played and sang “Atlantic City” by Springsteen. Smith just sat on the stage and watched him, like the rest of us. Myers then went to the keyboard and played a medley of Tom Petty and The Eagles. A little reminder of a couple of legends that we lost.
All in all, I thought the night was fantastic. As someone who shoots as much music as I do, the biggest endorsement I can make is that I stayed for the whole set. That doesn’t always happen for me these days. But on this night, I stayed and I sang along with the 2000 or so people in the room. I would go see this show any chance that I got and I feel fortunate that I got to be in the room for something special.
