20 September 2026 – Riverstage, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
16 years and 7 months. 199 months. 6056 Days. This has been the running counter for me as a Shinedown fan, waiting for the Florida rockers to make their overdue return to Australia. After being part of the 2010 Soundwave line-up, and being put on a back stage against bands like Jane’s Addiction, Anthrax, All Time Low, and AFI, I was maybe one of 100ish people that were in that crowd, singing every word. This was Shinedown’s first ever experience of the Australian live music scene.
Lead vocalist Brent Smith made Brisbane a promise at Soundwave. That they would be back as soon as they could be. Since then, we’ve seen numerous elections, the death of Soundwave and Big Day Out, the rise of Good Things, and multiple once in a lifetime events. But for over 15 years, zero news of a Shinedown tour. I even travelled to the US in 2018 and saw them when I was over there, because I genuinely thought they’d never come back. But tonight, 6056 days after the first and only time they’ve played Brisbane, they’re back to take over the Riverstage, and I could not be more excited.
Billed alongside Shinedown on this double header, is British rock legends, Bush. Unlike Shinedown, they’ve been here a little more frequently. But the band has never done a headline tour of Australia. And with these two absolute powerhouses combining on a tour, this should be one hell of a show.
Opening the show tonight are Coast Arcade. These indie rockers are from New Zealand. The band were just here a few months ago opening for Silversun Pickups, and I heard their name floated around a lot after that tour. So, to see them here, as a band inspired by the alternative rock of the 90s that Bush had a hand in developing the sound of, must be incredible for them. There were some dope songs they played like ‘Cycles’, ‘City Limits’, and ‘Acetone’, and they even ripped out a pretty great cover of ‘Slither’ by Velvet Revolver. I’m excited to see more of this group and I hope they make it over more often.
Coast Arcade – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
As ‘Sledgehammer’ by Peter Gabriel played over the speakers, the Shinedown unofficial mascot, TV Man, came out on stage to dance and hype the crowd up. The audio cut, and TV Man disappeared, and for the first time in 16 years, Shinedown appeared on a stage in Australia. Opening with the only song from 2026’s Eight, ‘Safe and Sound’ opened the show with some of the most unique pyro I’ve ever seen, with flames shooting down from the roof, plus on stage, and even some fireworks too. Vocalist Brent Smith told Brisbane “we flew 7000 miles to get silly with you tonight”, as the drums for ‘Devour’ kicked in. More fireworks went off as Brisbane screamed the lyrics out loud.
Shinedown – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
‘Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)’ was next, and had even more pyro going off. It genuinely shocked me how much pyro Shinedown were putting out, without headlining this show. This set, three songs in, almost demands the expectation of the headline spot. The entire set was huge, and the reactions from the crowd felt like putting them in the middle of the show was a mistake. Smith asked Brisbane if they felt alive, as he got some attention showered onto bassist Eric Bass, as Bass, Zach Myers, and Barry Ketch all continued an instrumental interlude. Smith told the crowd everyone could have been anywhere else tonight, but they were here at the Riverstage to celebrate the return of Shinedown to Australia. Smith told Brisbane to prepare for dancing, as ‘If You Only Knew’ started up.
Shinedown – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
The song drew a massive singalong from the crowd, and Smith told Brisbane how spectacular they sounded tonight. It was Smiths job to make sure Brisbane had time of their lives tonight, and said they were winding the clock back to the very beginning as ‘45’ started, which drew arguably the biggest singalong of the night. We got more darkness and red lighting with pyro for ‘DEVIL’, and Smith got the house lights up to see Brisbane, as he got the crowd jumping for ‘Enemies’. It was at this point in the show, Smith started making comments about needing to speed the show up. This would foreshadow to an event at the end of the show.
Shinedown – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Smith talked about how beautiful the Riverstage is, and how there was not a single star out in the sky, so he asked Brisbane for phone lights for “those we love that have passed” for ‘A Symptom of Being Human’. The rest of the set basically had no talking, as they ran through ‘Cut the Cord’, ‘MONSTERS’, ‘Simple Man’, and ‘Sound of Madness’. Unfortunately, ‘Sound of Madness’ ended up being the band’s last song, despite the planned finish to be ‘Second Chance’. Smith apologised for not being able to play one more, and the band didn’t look too happy with coming off stage. Myers ended up kicking mic stands off the stage and storming off, as Kerch and Bass handed picks out to the crowd.
Bush – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
After an entire set changeover, it was time for Bush to make their way out to the stage. And while Chris Traynor, Corey Britz, and Nik Hughes all got heaps of love as they walked out, the biggest reaction was of course, for Gavin Rossdale. Seemingly aware of what happened with the Shinedown timing issues, the set for Bush didn’t have a lot of talking, but was just a wall to wall best of show for the band. Opening on ‘Everything Zen’, the crowd were immediately pulled into the show, singing the song super loud alongside Rossdale. Rossdale basically was either playing guitar or not playing guitar on every other song, as he ditched it for the first time to say a quick hello to the crowd, and start into ‘Quicksand’.
Bush – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
‘The Chemicals Between Us’ drew a massive ovation as it started, and it was only at this point that I noticed in the back left corner of the stage, there were a bunch of fans all watching from side of stage. I know this is something bands do a lot of in the US and the UK, but it’s not something that happens much here in Australia. It was cool to see though because there were some diehard Bush fans screaming along to every song on stage, which made the set feel bigger, if that makes sense.
Rossdale talked about going to the land of milk and honey, as ‘The Land of Milk and Honey’ started up, and they went back to back with songs like ‘The Sound of Winter’ and ‘Ghosts in the Machine’. Rossdale talked about how Shinedown and Bush were in Auckland a few days ago, and how tonight was the first show in the Australian run and he was so excited to being doing these shows with them, because Australia is Bush’s version of Mecca. They just love coming back to Australia.
Bush – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
After ‘May You Love Be Pure’, Traynor, Britz, and Hughes left the stage to leave Rossdale alone, as Rossdale spoke about the rapid fire nature of the show tonight. He got a bit emotional talking about the bands long time tour manager, PK, who passed away in August. Australia was the last tour PK booked for them before he passed, and Rossdale asked for phone lights as he talked about how beautiful but tough life can be. The iconic intro to ‘Glycerine’ started, as Brisbane sang it the loudest of the night, as Rossdale struggled to get through the song.
Bush – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
The band came back out on stage for ‘Flowers on a Grave’ where possibly the coolest moment of the night happened. Rossdale jumped into the crowd, and walked the crowd as he stopped for photos with people and shook hands and gave hugs to everyone he could. But, the most beautiful moment happened next to me. After I was able to get a handshake and a “hey” from him, he noticed a little boy in a wheelchair next to me. Couldn’t have been older than 10. And this kid was loving the show, moving his body as much as he could, and showing Rossdale how much fun he was having. Rossdale, in kind, grabbed the kids hand and sang directly to him as his mother cried. It was a beautiful moment, and probably the coolest thing I’ve seen this year. He gave that kid a moment he will never forget.
Bush – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
The main set ended on ‘I Beat Loneliness’, with the encore being a smash run through three of the bands most popular songs, in ‘Machinehead’, ‘More Than Machines’, and ‘Comedown’. ‘Machinehead’ got one of the biggest reactions of the night, and ‘Comedown’, of course, had the crowd melting away as they sang along to close out this incredible night of live music. While Bush were incredible, and totally deserve the headline spot, the crowd did empty out a lot once Shinedown was over, which was a little disappointing to see. Those who stayed (and there was a lot) got a spectacular set from the headliner.
