From ‘Second Chance’ to career first: Shinedown’s making MSG debut a family affair

Shinedown will launch the summer leg of their U.S. Dance, Kid, Dance tour Saturday in Boston, and on Sunday, they’ll achieve a career milestone when they perform at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden for the first time.

“We’ve never been on a tour where we [played MSG as] an opening band or a first of four, nothing,” frontman Brent Smith tells ABC Audio. “We’ve never stepped foot in that building, so to walk in there as a headliner for your very first time is something that is huge for us.”

The MSG concert will also be particularly special for Smith, as his parents plan to attend.

“They were like, ‘Hey, we just wanted to let you know … we understand that there’s a lot going on, but we wanted to tell you now just so you know, we will be flying into New York City to watch you at Madison Square Garden,'” Smith shares. “And I just didn’t expect that.”

Smith explains that his parents very rarely travel by air, so he was very surprised to hear they were coming.

“That made me so happy that they took it upon themselves, they were like, ‘He’s playing Madison Square Garden, yeah, we’re gonna go watch him!'” Smith says. “It was very sweet, it’s very endearing.” 

Smith adds that his Shinedown bandmates are also expecting to see family and friends at the MSG show.

“It also makes you feel good when your family is so proud of you that they wanna come and be there at that moment,” Smith says. “It’s pretty overwhelming, it’s really cool.” 

The summer Dance, Kid, Dance tour also includes Bush and Morgan Wade on the bill.

Shinedown will launch the summer leg of their U.S. Dance, Kid, Dance tour Saturday in Boston, and on Sunday, they’ll achieve a career milestone when they perform at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden for the first time.

“We’ve never been on a tour where we [played MSG as] an opening band or a first of four, nothing,” frontman Brent Smith tells ABC Audio. “We’ve never stepped foot in that building, so to walk in there as a headliner for your very first time is something that is huge for us.”

The MSG concert will also be particularly special for Smith, as his parents plan to attend.

“They were like, ‘Hey, we just wanted to let you know … we understand that there’s a lot going on, but we wanted to tell you now just so you know, we will be flying into New York City to watch you at Madison Square Garden,'” Smith shares. “And I just didn’t expect that.”

Smith explains that his parents very rarely travel by air, so he was very surprised to hear they were coming.

“That made me so happy that they took it upon themselves, they were like, ‘He’s playing Madison Square Garden, yeah, we’re gonna go watch him!'” Smith says. “It was very sweet, it’s very endearing.” 

Smith adds that his Shinedown bandmates are also expecting to see family and friends at the MSG show.

“It also makes you feel good when your family is so proud of you that they wanna come and be there at that moment,” Smith says. “It’s pretty overwhelming, it’s really cool.” 

The summer Dance, Kid, Dance tour also includes Bush and Morgan Wade on the bill.