UTG PHOTOS: Carnival Of Madness Tour (8/27/13)

September 4th, 2013

Corbin Alvae

Under The Gun sent photographer, Corbin Alvae, to the Carnival Of Madness Tour at DTE Energy Music Theater in Clarkston, MI.

Well, where to start?! First of all, as soon as I saw this line up back a few months ago, I immediately told myself that I needed to cover this tour. I first saw Shinedown and Papa Roach back when I was out of middle school and making the transition into high school. Crazy, right? Both bands were at the same amazing venue of DTE, on separate days of course. Oh, and once again, I got stuck in the rain! I don’t understand what it is with me and rain and shows always colliding, I think the weather just likes to follow and give me a big middle finger the day of something important. SWEET MOTHER NATURE! Anyway, let’s get to these fabulous acts that made up the Carnival Of Madness Tour.

Things kicked off with Nashville hard rock band, We As Human. I initially heard these guys while I was browsing through new music to check out and ended up really digging them, especially their track “Zombie.” Overall, great group to catch whether they are solo or on a tour, check them out!

Next up was Hollywood rock/metal band, In This Moment. I came across this group in 2008 when their album, The Dream, dropped and instantly fell in love with the sound and overall fact that vocalist, Maria Brink, gave me goosebumps with her vocal talents. Due to this I was beyond excited to catch them live, and what a fantastic performance I must say! What made them stand out most was the amount of stellar stage design they had for their performance, not just from displays of a combination of skulls and hands formed together, but they also had onstage dancers that resembled crazy nurses. Great touch!

After ITM, Tennessee rock band, Skillet, took the stage. This group of talented musicians blew my mind right away. As soon as drummer, Jen Ledger, walked out onto stage and stepped behind her kit, the DTE crowd was instantly ready to show them how Michigan does it at a rock show. Skillet did not disappoint whatsoever with a performance full of energy, heavy hitting sound, and of course, a lot of sweat. This is a group that entertains to the fullest and being able to witness that live was something really special.

Second to last onstage was California rock band, Papa Roach. As mentioned above, I first saw them back at DTE when I was around fourteen or fifteen, that was about 4 – 5 years ago. Back then, they had an amazing energy filled performance, and seeing them on this tour, nothing has changed! Lead singer, Jacoby Shaddix, was at his wild ways, making sure to jam all over every inch of that stage and eventually ended up inside the crowd going wild. Overall, Papa Roach puts on a fun filled performance suitable for anyone that likes to get a little crazy and let loose.

And finally, our headliner, Shinedown. The first time I saw them was around the time The Sound Of Madness was released and I enjoyed that album a lot. I was front row for that tour and damn, back then they were sick! This time around was no different; Lots of energy, fire, and friendship. The reason I say friendship is because vocalist, Brent Smith, has the crowd do a simple thing of shaking your neighbors hand at one point, because everyone there is there to do one thing: have a great time. To me, that’s something that makes the fans come back to see the group live, because you never know, the person sitting next to you could be a new friend, a future husband or wife, a new love, it could be anything! Shinedown definitely didn’t hold back either, so much entertainment that guaranteed that no one was sitting in their seats the remainder of the night.

The Carnival Of Madness Tour was an overall amazing and successful tour, from beginning to the end, all the bands did what I expected to see when I showed up: make the night memorable. Below are images I captured of each band on the tour, check them out and let me know what you think in the comments!

WE AS HUMAN