Shinedown at the Kia Forum: A Night Built for Big Choruses and Bigger Fire
On Sunday, August 3, Shinedown brought their Dance, Kid, Dance Tour to Los Angeles, taking the stage at the Kia Forum with Bush and Morgan Wade in support. It marked the band’s first time headlining the historic venue, and they delivered a show that played to the room’s size while still managing to connect on a personal level.
Morgan Wade opened the night with a set that leaned into the grit and honesty of her songwriting. Just two days before the show, she released The Party Is Over (recovered), and her performance carried that same unvarnished clarity. Songs like “High in Your Apartment” and “Wilder Days” rang through the Forum with an intimacy that contrasted the arena’s scale. Her approach was straightforward, keeping the focus on storytelling and vocal delivery rather than flash.
Bush followed with a shift in energy that hit immediately. Opening with staples like (Machinehead) and “Everything Zen”, the band quickly had the crowd locked in. New material from I Beat Loneliness, including “Scars” and “The Land of Milk and Honey”, proved they are not simply relying on past glories. Gavin Rossdale left the stage during “Flowers on a Grave”, weaving his way through the lower bowl before returning for a stripped-down “Glycerine” and a roaring “Comedown” to close. The mix of ‘90s anthems and current songs gave the set depth and kept the momentum sharp.
Shinedown’s arrival was theatrical from the first moment. A pre-show video featuring their TV-headed character set the scene before the band tore into “Dance, Kid, Dance”, a song that feels tailor-made to ignite an arena. The production was as much a part of the set as the music, with lighting and pyro timed to lift each chorus without overwhelming it. Midway through the night, the band moved to a B-stage, drawing the far-off seats into the experience. Brent Smith paused at one point to encourage fans to greet one another, turning the show into a shared event rather than just a performance. Emotional highs came with “A Symptom of Being Human”, a full-crowd singalong of “Simple Man”, and the show-closing “Second Chance”, each one sequenced to land with maximum impact.
Shinedown’s Los Angeles performance at the Kia Forum was more than a concert; it was a well-structured journey. Starting intimate with Morgan Wade, transitioning through Bush’s balance of heritage and new material, and culminating in Shinedown’s arena-scale cinematic set, the night felt purposeful and complete. This tour date worked because each act built on the last, the production served the music, and the band trusted the strength of their songs to command attention. It was a night that felt earned and one the Forum crowd will carry for a while.
