WELLS FARGO ARENA - DES MOINES, IA
4/25/25
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick
SHINEDOWN kicked off their Dance, Kid, Dance tour at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA this past Friday night. Well over 10,000 excited fans filled the arena for the first night of the tour with lots of them showing up hours in advance of doors to get their spot on the floor with this new stage design.
We got to talk with Brent and Eric from Shinedown before their set and they were excited about this new stage design and there was not a bad seat in the house because of it. We caught different parts of the set from different parts of the arena and everyone had a great view with everything that did go on. Massive props to Shinedown for creating a set up with so many stairs which let them run pretty much thru 2/3 of the floor length in the arena. They made sure everyone in that arena had a moment where they felt close to the action.
SHINEDOWN brought everything you would ever want in an arena show. They made sure you were going to have fun and sing along all night long. You don’t know how much you miss feeling the heat from the flames until you have them again and in this case, coming from multiple angles. SHINEDOWN made sure you were staying on the edge of your seat if you weren’t standing with the pyro. Opening the show with “Dance, Kid, Dance”, SHINEDOWN were firing on all cylendars right out of the gate, even cranking up the PA to be louder during the song. “Asking For It” and “Cut the Cord’ made early appearances in set all with massive crowd participation. “Devil” and “Enemies” brought all the heat live and worked really well with the new single “Three, Six, Five” in between them with all being a sentimental almost ballad showcasing SHINEDOWN doing what they do best weaving great songwriting no matter how heavy or not, musically and/or emotionally the song is.
I’ll admit, I don’t know the SHINEDOWN catalog as in and out as most fans – I’m still learning. My favorite part of the show was when they used the “B stage” in the middle of the arena to do a deep cuts set bringing out “Call Me” from The Sound of Madness, “Burning Bright” from Leave a Whisper, “Thick as Theieves” from Threat to Survival and “Breaking Inside” from The Sound of Madness in an intimate moment where the whole arena had a great view of the band. Even though I wasn’t super familiar with the three later songs, that moment of everything stripped down to just those four guys on a small stage together with an anything goes vibe. This led to some funny moments in between songs as no one was sure if Zach was going to make the show as he was passing kidney stones at the hospital before the show. Zach, at least during the show, looked like he was having the time of his life up there and let the crowd know he wasn’t going to miss the show. Some of the songs in this portion of the set were changed out the next night in Omaha, leading to an exciting portion if you are attending more than one show on this tour. Even if you’re watching the set lists, you won’t know what might be played for those four songs.
Something about the night made “A Symptom of Being Human”, “Simple Man” and “Monsters” hit different tonight than in past visits. “A Symptom of Being Human” is a powerful spot in the set to begin with but it was even more magical Friday night. The crowd at certain points were louder than the PA during “Simple Man” and the closer “Second Chance” giving both songs extra love from the crowd back to the band and back out to the crowd again. I’m pretty sure the whole arena shook during Barry’s opening bass drum hits on “The Sound of Madness”.
BEARTOOTH steamrolled through a 45 min set and understood the assignment right out of the gate – get that crowd rowdy and ready for Shinedown. They stuck to the hits for their set, all the songs you would know that you hear on the radio were all there. Caleb ran around the stage the entire set and brought all the good vibes with him. The only missing song was “Bad Listener” but you couldn’t argue with the set they had picked. Lots of crowd participation. Another fantastic set from BEARTOOTH.
SHINEDOWN delievered exactly what you would hope from a live arena show. The fire, the pyro, the unpredictibility, the hits, the deep cuts, the sing alongs! This was a Friday night that no one in that arena will forget any time soon. SHINEDOWN and BEARTOOTH come back together on tour with new albums soon!
SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PHOTOS FROM SHINEDOWN and BEARTOOTH HERE!
