Same old Shinedown - superb

I’ve been a Shinedown fan since the early days, IE: Leave a Whisper, so I never miss a chance to see and listen to Brent Smith’s vocals. I last saw the band in 2010 when they headlined the inaugural Carnival of Madness Tour (Aug. 21, 2010) at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion hear in Houston.

Despite enjoying the 16,000-plus fans, I like smaller intimate shows and that’s what we got when Shinedown returned this time to play the House of Blues on April 5 as the headlining act of the Avalanche Tour, which also included Adelita’s Way and New Medicine.

The four-piece is touring in support of their fourth studio album Amaryllis, which is a follow-up to their monster record The Sound of Madnessthat produced six, that’s if you have the bonus version “Diamond Eyes,” which was also on the soundtrack of The Expendables, No. 1 hits.

The sold out House of Blues’ crowd went nuts when the curtain dropped and appearing before their eyes was a new-look Smith, who now says he is healthier than ever. His appearance may have changed, but his voice has remained immaculate.

The 15-song set opened with “Sound of Madness” then rolled into “Diamond Eyes” before fans got a chance to hear the track from the new album, and that came with “Enemies.”

The band did a terrific job with their set, lights and stage presence and it was a joy to enjoy some of the early stuff like “45” and the Lynyrd Skynyrd cover “Simple Man.”

Shinedown continues to be a hit-making machine, but they put an exclamation point on that statement by backing it up with the live show.

Set list

Sound of Madness

Diamond Eyes

Enemies

If You Only Knew

Save Me

Devour

Nowhere Kids

The Crow & the Butterfly

Unity

Adrenaline

45

Bully

Simple Man

Second Chance

Fly From the Inside