Written by: Uriel Ernesto Alcalde
Rock veterans SHINEDOWN and PAPA ROACH embarked on the Revolutions Live Tour with support from the quickly ascending band SPIRITBOX, which indicated the willingness of rock bands with decades of legacy to pass the torch and give massive exposure to other proposals of music and allow fans to have an expanded selection of music for their everyday lives. This tour was such a heavy hitter since its announcement, and all efforts to catch one of the dates from the lengthy tour needed to be made, as the whole package is a guaranteed good show in any place.
The concert took place on Friday, October 6th, 2023 at the CREDIT UNION OF TEXAS EVENT CENTER, in Allen, TX, which is a place that does not often host concerts of any kind, but offers a great layout and just about the right size to have a guaranteed great experience regardless of the chosen ticket type. Fun fact, the last time I was in that venue was back in 2014 to see JUDAS PRIEST, so it was very nostalgic to come back again for another experience. Given the distance of the venue to the metroplex, it was evident that many fans took their time to get to the arena at a later time, but just a good amount of people showed up to catch the opening band, which is probably the one that I was most excited about on that night.
Once the lights turned off, it was the perfect time to kick off the weekend and live another memorable night. SPIRITBOX took the massive responsibility to warm up the thousands of fans in attendance for the night. It didn’t seem like most fans actually knew who this band was, but to put things into perspective: SPIRITBOX had their first-ever headlining tour in the United States earlier this spring, with all dates selling out just weeks for most markets, and some of them selling all their tickets within days of announcing the tour. This achievement is not impossible, but likely unheard of nowadays.
With this in mind, the fans were just getting special treatment from a band that will likely rise to the top really quick and maintain themselves on the radar for a long time. The opening song “Jaded” started things off slow, introducing SPIRITBOX‘s style to the crowd and setting up the stage for their changing levels of aggressiveness. In this song, vocalist Courtney LaPlante showed up to the stage just like a goddess, owning everything she’s done in her career. Other songs like “Hurt You”, “Yellowjacket” and “Rotoscope” made it to the setlist, from the album Eternal Blue, which is the one that got me into the band in a matter of minutes.
Just like most opening bands, the playing time tends to be really short, but just enough to head towards the end with tracks like “The Void”, released earlier this year, a personal favorite of mine “Circle With Me” and closing with their strongest banger “Holly Roller”. Although I personally wanted to hear more from the band at that time, the warm up job was just on point for all the fans to get prepared to keep rocking with PAPA ROACH and SHINEDOWN. Everything was flowing just as a great concert night was supposed to flow.
The stage finished setup relatively fast and now it was time for PAPA ROACH to step up and remind us why this band has been able to maintain themselves as one of the most representative bands of rock music for more than 20 years and possibly more. Personally, PAPA ROACH is a band that I’ve followed for many years, primarily because they communicate positivity in so many ways that blend with music that actually makes us remember that even though life gets tough everyone in a while, there’s a way to figure things out. “Between Angels and Insects” started off things with a high note quick, showing excitement for most fans and bringing great memories from the good days, followed by “Kill the Noise”, which erupted into a massive mosh pit in the general admission area.
Other songs like “Getting Away With Murder” and “…To Be Loved” (with the proper reference to WWE Monday Night Raw) made it to the setlist, which also featured lead singer Jacoby Shaddix to walk around with the crowd in the seating section and make the night memorable with a couple of covers like “California Love” from 2PAC and “Firestarter” from THE PRODIGY. Moving on, the band continued spreading positivity during the night and played “Leave a Light On”, from their latest album, stressing the importance of addressing mental health and reaching for support for anyone that needs it.
At this point, PAPA ROACH‘s set is almost coming to an end, but not without hearing other classics like “Scars”, “Born for Greatness” and “Help”. All these are songs that I got to enjoy during every second, along with the many people who showed up at the venue. Before wrapping things up, PAPA ROACH’s most famous song “Last Resort” was their goodbye tune, reflected in increased chaos with a touch of enjoyment and excitement for the headlining band.
Now it’s time for SHINEDOWN to bring us their magic. A little bit of my history with this band takes me back to the year 2012, when I had the opportunity to witness one of the best rock shows I’ve seen without asking for it, featuring this band as a headliner and instantly drawing me into their music. SHINEDOWN is always a band that I’ll recommend, as every single one of their records holds very powerful and energetic songs for any situation. “Diamond Eyes” was selected to kick things off, followed by “Dead Don’t Die” from their latest album Planet Zero, which still stays very true to their unique style.
The entire set was projected to be very extensive, with a distributed mix of old and new songs, which included “I’ll Follow You”, “State of My Head”, “Devil” and “Unity” (one of my personal favorites), all of them from different albums, but with a similar vibe that just kept building up over the night. So many songs were heard at this point, and the entire set was still far from over. One of the moments that instantly gave me chills was how the band prepared a somewhat long intermission to just blast “Enemies” out of nowhere, followed by “Sound of Madness”.
With SHINEDOWN touring in support of their chart-topping seventh studio album, Planet Zero, SHINEDOWN’s current radio single “A Symptom of Being Human” was emotionally played for the fans, and continued to resonate with listeners, climbing up the Alternative radio chart following its success at Hot AC this summer. SHINEDOWN also released a variety of remixes for the hit song including a pop version and acoustic version. Shinedown performed “A Symptom of Being Human” on September 4th on Live with Kelly and Mark for the song’s TV debut – (PRESS HERE to watch). The whole experience of just one song was very unique and special for everyone to rely on rock music to get through any difficulties or just to have a good time.
Moving on, we also got to hear other songs like “Planet Zero”, “Second Chance” and “The Middle” which was a nicely played cover by JIMMY EAT WORLD. With this being such a popular song, it was very easy to hear the thousands of fans in attendance singing along with the band. Heading towards the end of the show, SHINEDOWN also brought us a mix of the songs “Daylight” and “Get Up”, followed by a longer acoustic version of LYNYRD SKYNYRD‘s “Simple Man”, which fans still love unconditionally and with a passion. The last songs to say goodbye to this incredible band included “Monsters” and “Cut the Cord”, along with an impressive set of fireworks that’s hard to catch in this type of venue.
Overall, the night did not disappoint. Many people were able to listen to SPIRITBOX (probably for the first time) and hopefully follow the band to support their growth, the same amount of people had the opportunity to enjoy one of the most iconic rock bands like PAPA ROACH and experience a somewhat more intimate show, with the cherry on top provided by SHINEDOWN and their 17 songs, alternating vibes, but demonstrating their professionalism and capability to make every penny worth for a good time and positive experiences. Rock music is still alive, and the people from Allen, TX witnessed it at its best.
