Carnival of Madness - Blogged by N8

So, when I was in Germany I got to see Shinedown in concert in Frankfurt. Shortly before I came home, I saw that they were going to be headlining a festival tour called the "Carnival of Madness" after I came home. I begged and begged JME if we could go after I got home and she finally told me that we could. Unfortunately, the closest they were coming to O-Town was Casper, WY, so we had to make a road trip.

We left early in the morning and drove about seven hours to the small town of Casper. Why they chose to hold a huge festival concert in such a small town and completely pass SLC is beyond me. Anyway, we got settled in our hotel, grabbed a delicious meal at a local Mexican restaurant and we headed up to the Casper Events Center.

We got there and they separated the lines into male and female so that they could search us before going inside. A few guys were standing behind us in line and they were talking to every event worker that walked past and calling them by their first names. One of them walked up to them and asked them to huddle up close. So, they all started whispering and I heard the event worker say that they were giving away pink wristbands to the first 200 people that bought a Shinedown CD that would get them to a meet and greet after the show. So, the second I made it through the security guards, I ran to the nearest souvenir stand and bought 2 CD's for us. Along with that came 2 wristbands to meet SHINEDOWN!



Opening the show was the Knoxville, TN band Ten Years. They are known for such songs as Wasteland, So Long Goodbye, and Beautiful.




After them was Sevendust, a group from Atlanta, GA. I have seen them before. They are known for a pretty wild stage show. They are famous for such songs as Angel's Son, Denial, and Enemy.




After them was Puddle of Mudd from Kansas City, MO. I've seen them before also. They are known for such songs as Blurry, Psycho, and She Hates Me.




After that came Chevelle. They are from Chicago, IL. I was really impressed by them. They put on a great show. They are known for such songs as Vitamin R (Leading Us Along), The Clincher, and The Red.




After that came the main attraction, SHINEDOWN! They are from Jacksonville, FL. This was the 5th time I've seen them. What an amazing show they put on! Their set list, which I wrote down as they went a long, went like this: Sound of Madness, Devour, I Dare You, Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide, If You Only Knew, Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom), 45, Burning Bright, Heroes, The Crow and the Butterfly, Her Name Is Alice, Save Me, Left Out, Simple Man, Fly From the Inside, and Second Chance. It was an amazing show with a lot of visual effects on jumbo screens everywhere and great music. Their singer Brent always does a great job of firing up the audience and getting everyone into the show. It was a lot of fun!












After the show was over, we met up with the rest of the people with the pink wristbands where we were lined up to meet Shinedown. We were told that we couldn't take pictures with the band, but we could take pictures while we were waiting in line. Here are a couple that I snapped.




They were very friendly to both of us. They thanked me for my military service and signed the CD booklets and our tickets. In return, I presented Brent with the coin from the First and Second Class Petty Officer's Association at Landstuhl.




It was the best festival concert I have ever been to. It was a great way to celebrate coming home.