The Moshville Times - Carnival of Madness (Black Stone Cherry, Shinedown, Halestorm, Highly Suspect)

Despite the weather resembling something out of the movie Twister there’s a cracking atmosphere around the Hydro as the first rendition of the UK incarnation of The Carnival of Madness rolls into town.

I would love to tell you about how good Brooklyn’s Highly Suspect were, but the only thing that was highly suspect was the length of time it took to get my photo and then the stewards insistence that all photographers go in one entrance so they could “keep an eye on us”.

As a result of this and despite the fact that I’d been at the Hydro since 2pm, I missed them. I canvassed the opinion of the crowd, and the comments varied from ok, to not bad, so I’d go with a thumbs up for them

Next up are the ever impressive Halestorm who waste no time in getting the crowd going. Front woman Lzzy Hale is particularly adept at getting the crowd going with their brand of radio friendly anthems that are not wasted on the Glasgow crowd.

This was a cracking set and I can’t wait to see what comes next from Halestorm. (9/10)

Setlist

Sick Individual
Love Bites (So Do I)
Apocalyptic
Amen
I Like It Heavy
I Am The Fire
Drum Solo
Mayhem
Freak Like Me
I Miss The Misery

Full picture gallery

Next up are Shinedown with their own brand of modern rock that reflects their musical position in the bill. Tipping their hat to David Bowie by using “I’m Afraid of Americans” as their intro tune.

Their set is very slick and front man Brett Smith is on top form, even deciding to part the now capacity standing crowd and go for a wee dawdle.

Bassist Eric Bass is like a livewire during the whole of their 9 song set and the sound as a whole was particularly impressive, a massive change from their last visit with Alter Bridge when the sound quality varied from muffled to, well, shite to be honest.

You can see why these guys are successful, but for me, it wasn’t as spontaneous as the other bands and I get the feeling that they could suffer from a case of going through the motions (AC/DC-itis) when you have to be in the legend bracket to be able to do this (i.e. AC/DC).

Having said that, there are some great tunes in there with “State of My Head”, “Second Chance” and their take on Skynyrd’s “Simple Man”. (8/10)

Setlist

Black Cadillac
Diamond Eyes
Second Chance
Cut the Cord
Enemies
I’ll Follow You
State of My Head
Simple Man
Sound of Madness

Full Picture Gallery

Last up are headliners Black Stone Cherry who, after their massive stage curtain drops, waste no time getting us all going with “Me & Mary Jane”.

The Kentucky quartet have certainly earned their Scottish stripes over the years, starting at the Cathouse they’ve grown in status without losing a sense of where they’ve come form and more specifically who got them there.

In my chat with Bassist John Lawhon in the afternoon, he has told me that their new album Kentucky would be the first without any external record company interference so it would be a true raw BSC album, and this would certainly seem to be the case as two of the new tunes given a run out (“In Our Dreams” & “The Rambler”).

Lzzy Hale comes out to duet “Peace is Free” with Chris Robertson and we are treated to the unusual site of at least 80% of the audience with their mobile phone lights on, how things have changed since the days of using the good old zippo lighter.

Their encore had the added bonus of giving us a rendition of Ace of Spades before leaving the stage to rapturous applause.

The sound was incredible, and what we were treated to this evening was a band at the very peak of their powers and I for one, can’t wait to hear their latest offering due out on 1^st April. (9/10)

Setlist