Photos by Andy Argyrakis

For this entire century thus far, Shinedown maintained a paramount place on the hard rock charts, and though front man Brent Smith, guitarist Zach Myers, bassist Eric Bass (actually his last name) and drummer Barry Kerch remain committed to a heavy platform, they are currently riding an entire new crest of crossing over to pop circles.

Of course, having alternative/grunge-era icons Bush and rising country rock singer/songwriter Morgan Wade join them certainly clinched capacity status at the Allstate Arena, where for nearly four hours, it was a melodic melting pot filled with lots of fire.

Shinedown took the closing slot, tapping right into the tour’s title of “Dance, Kid, Dance,” while spreading out on runaways all around the ground floor of the venue as explosions, both visually and musically, constantly occurred.

Members would spend the next 110 minutes racing around to the roars of “Cut The Cord,” “How Did You Love” and fellow fresh cut “Three Six Five,” amongst others, although each were tempered with more understated moments on the middle stage.

They included “Misfits,” “Call Me” featuring a snippet of Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels,” “I’ll Follow You” and “Amaryllis,” then a little later, a chill-inducing rendition of “A Symptom Of Being Human,” set almost exclusively to the glow of phone lights.

Switching gears completely, Shinedown took a turbocharged trip to “Planet Zero,” prior to putting its exclusive spin on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” through “Second Chance,” fittingly accompanied by a reminder that no dream is ever out of reach.

Right beforehand, Bush was also a significant part of the bill, not only due to a streak of “Sixteen Stone” singles from the 1990s, but a post-2010s comeback when Gavin Rossdale and company reclaimed their rightful place towards the top of the aggressive scene.

In fact, there were no less than four towering tunes off 2025’s profoundly personal “I Beat Loneliness” within almost an hour, in addition to “More Than Machines” and “Flowers On A Grave,” plus the massive “Machinehead,” “Everything Zen,” “Glycerine” and “Comedown” as the fearless leader ran around the now multi-generational crowd, who just like during Shinedown, frequently joined in at maximum volume while seeming fully satisfied in the fist-raising occasion.

For additional information on Shinedown and Bush, visit Shinedown.com and BushOfficial.com.

For a list of upcoming Live Nation concerts, visit LiveNation.com.

Upcoming shows at the Allstate Arena include Anuel AA (Aug. 28); Babymonster (Sept. 2); Ramon Ayala (Sept. 20); Tomorrow X Together (Sept. 21-22); Reneé Rapp (Sept. 25); Hans Zimmer (Sept. 26); Sleep Token (Sept. 28); Banda MS (Oct. 4); Jordan Davis (Oct. 10); Lainey Wilson (Oct. 17); Bryan Adams (Nov. 3); Los Tigres Del Norte (Nov. 14); Viva El Palenque (Nov. 29); Pentatonix (Dec. 2) and Christian Nodal (Dec. 12). For additional details, visit Rosemont.com/Allstate/.

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