Shinedown, In This Moment, One Bad Son & 10 Years Live in Lethbridge 04/04/18 (Review)

Shinedown, In This Moment, One Bad Son & 10 Years performed live in Lethbridge on April 4, 2018 to a sold out crowd at the Enmax Centre for Derailed 2018. Here’s my review and exclusive photo gallery from the concert:

Derailed 2018 was one helluva great rock show at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta last night. This was the second time I’ve seen headliners Shinedown (the first being when they opened for KISS in this very city five years ago). It was nice finally seeing them perform a full set that spanned their entire discography with classics like ’45’, ‘Second Chance’ ‘The Sound of Madness’ and even their famous cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Simple Man’, which was just as powerful now as it was the first time I saw it live. The crowd loved it too – as it was by far the loudest sing-a-long moment of the night.

Singer Brent Smith is one of the best frontmen in rock and has been for over a decade in my humble opinion. He’s such a pro at making the crowd feel welcome, even asking everybody in the building to shake hands with the strangers standing next to them at the start of their set. He even shook the hands of all the photographers up front, including myself, which was a cool moment as I’ve been a fan for a very long time. Shinedown had a very positive vibe all night long and it emanated with all ages and types of fans in the crowd. I saw bearded metal dudes head banging, right beside little kids and older ladies — everyone knew and sang along to every single word. That’s why Shinedown is rock royalty – they’ve bridged the gap between every type of fan there is and they didn’t need to sell out in order to reach that status. They also performed TWO new songs from their upcoming album ‘Attention Attention’ (comes out May 4th) and they were REALLY good. Hell, they even closed their damn set with the latest single ‘Devil’ and the crowd ate it up. It’s nice to see Shinedown’s new material going over so well and so quickly. Usually people only come for the oldschool stuff — not the case at this show.

In This Moment were magical. They put on a twisted beautiful performance that would make Marilyn Manson proud of singer Maria Brink’s theatrics, complete with witchcraft inspired backdrops and cloaks. This was my first time seeing them live and they were by far the heaviest act of the evening as Brink’s gutteral screams may have freaked out some of the younger (and older) fans in the audience. Everyone else on the bill was rock — In This Moment are HARD rock. Maybe even metal… Sure let’s say they’re metal. They played some of my favourite tracks including ‘She-Wolf’, ‘Oh Lord’ and closed with ‘Whore’, which was mindblowing to see and hear in person. Brink had several costume changes, every single one seductive, yet creepy as Hell. Think of their stage show as something out of Pan’s Labyrinth meets The Witch and that’s the kind of twisted visual pleasure that was bestowed upon the Albertan audience. They were flawless from beginning to end, even when Brink brought out the steam gun and blasted it into the air. She managed to take a silly gimmick and still make it look cool (unlike Stone Sour’s cheesy confetti cannon which was blasted on the Lethbridge crowd this past February).

Openers 10 Years just aren’t my kind of music. I have to admit. They felt like a weaker and less energetic version of Chevelle or TOOL. They coverered Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ and actually managed to make it sound MORE depressing. Now that’s one helluva feat… One Bad Son, who hail from Canada, picked up the pace and delivered a high-octane rock n’ roll set that really woke the crowd up. They have a more classic Guns n’ Roses style of music that just emanates badass. Guitarist Adam Hicks is a beast… He really is the heart and soul of that band – the man can shred. His solos were the best of the entire evening.

Derailed 2018 was sold out and proved that there is a place in Lethbridge for big rock events. The sound in the Enmax Centre was REAL good. There was no tin-can echo that you can get at some of the smaller venues in Southern Alberta either – the place was booming. In This Moment may have stole the show with their theatrics but Shinedown made me tear up like a baby. Those bastards… That ‘Simple Man’ cover live is such a special experience that you have to see it in person to really understand how magical of a moment it is.

Shinedown Live Photo Gallery (all photos by Keven Skinner)

In This Moment Live Photo Gallery (all photos by Keven Skinner)

One Bad Son Live Photo Gallery (all photos by Keven Skinner)