On return trip, band rocks a lot of fans

Strong ticket sales forced the promoter to seek the larger location.
By GUY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Shinedown, who was on the bill the night Chevrolet Centre opened Oct. 29, racked up another first by being the main attraction for the arena's first outdoor concert.
The Florida quintet, who played in support of 3 Doors Down on that fall night, headlined Wednesday night's show, which attracted roughly 2,500 fans.
The concert was originally scheduled to be in the parking lot of The Cellar in Struthers, but the high demand for tickets forced promoter Eric Ryan to find a bigger place. The Cellar's outdoor set-up only holds 1,000.
A stage, with full lighting, was set up in the arena's east parking lot, with the crowd hemmed in by the building and the South Avenue Bridge ramp.
Shinedown
For a mainstream rock band, Shinedown always seems concerned with the people who find themselves out of the loop. Appropriately, gravelly voiced lead singer Brent Smith opened the show by belting out "Left Out," from the band's debut album, "Leave a Whisper," before reeling off a few songs from their current album, the riff-driven "Us and Them." These included "Yer Majesty," "Trade Yourself In" and "I Dare You," which Smith dedicated to U.S. soldiers overseas in a moment of post Fourth of July reverence.
An early highlight came when Smith and guitarist Jasin Todd showed off their Lynyrd Skynyrd-ish tendencies on "Simple Man."
Shinedown wrapped things up with, among other things, their breakthrough song, ".45," and "Heroes," before closing with current hit "Save Me."
Evans/Blue
Toronto's Evans/Blue played a scorching seven-song set before Shinedown.
An emo band lyrically, with songs awash in talk of tearing, killing, dying, death, triggers and other overwrought metaphors for love gone bad, Evans/Blue delivers its message with a crunchy two-guitar attack. And lead singer Matisyn can scream with the best of them.
They opened with the intense "A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed," followed it with "The Promise and the Threat," and by the time they got to "Beg," the sound crew had finally ironed the bugs out of the microphone.
Renditions of "Over" and "Cold" proved there were more than a few Evans/Blue fans in the house (parking lot), judging by the crowd's reaction. Both songs are getting a lot of airplay locally.
Maybe Evans/Blue will continue the pattern set by Shinedown, and come back next year to headline the first concert on the center's roof.
The evening began with a set by Youngstown-area rock band River's Edge.