Shinedown surprise support band with 'insanely generous gift' live on stage

Categorical proof that they’re four of the nicest guys in rock music, Shinedown surprised support act Dinosaur Pile-Up with an ‘insanely generous gift’ live on stage in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday night (20th July).

Author: Scott Colothan Published 23rd Jul 2019



Leeds alt-rockers Dinosaur Pile-Up have been supporting Shinedown on their extensive North American tour for over a month now, and - in their own words - they’ve been flanked by a “tiny battered backdrop” for more than 300 shows that’s “so torn up we couldn’t even hang it up anymore.”

Introducing themselves on stage at the 5,000-capacity Comerica Theatre on Saturday, Dinosaur Pile-Up unveiled their small banner to the audience, saying “we can’t afford a big banner – so there’s our banner.”

To their surprise, moments later a curtain dropped to reveal a gargantuan banner that spanned the entire vast stage.

Sharing footage of the moment on Instagram, Dinosaur Pile-Up said the new backdrop was “paid for, delivered and set up on stage - all without our knowledge – by Shinedown, as a gift.”

They wrote: “You should know; backdrops are EXTREMELY expensive and there is no way we could have afforded a new one, especially of this size, for the foreseeable future. We’d therefore decided that we’d just keep rocking our little beat up one until it literally fell apart.”

Dinosaur Pile-Up added: “What you can’t see in this video, is us being taught what it is to be a truly great band, and that being a truly great band begins with music and genre, but in the end surpasses them both and comes to rest in your actions as people.

“When we went to find Brent (Smith), Barry (Kerch), Eric (Bass) and Zach (Myers) after the show to thank them for their insanely generous gift, they said they didn’t want our thanks, and that they just wanted us to have success of our own, and that when we did get that success - we would pay it forward and help someone else out that needed it, as they’d helped us out, and as they’d experienced in their own journey to where they are now.”

The trio continued: “In all of our 12 years of touring in DPU, we have never experienced generosity from a headlining band like this. That is what you can’t see in this video. Something far more valuable than just an insanely generous gift. A shining example of what it is to be truly great.

“So, to Brent, Barry, Eric, Zach and their amazing crew; from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. For truly leading by example, and for helping us out. We promise to pay it forward.”

> > > View this post on Instagram > > Yo. This is important. There is so much more happening in this video than it appears✨ What you can see is us up on stage last night in Phoenix AZ playing maybe our 300th show or more with our tiny battered backdrop, that was so torn up we couldn’t even hang it up anymore (so we just threw it over our amps) and a new, much larger backdrop being revealed behind us. That larger backdrop, was paid for, delivered and set up on stage - all without our knowledge - by @shinedown, as a gift. You should know; backdrops are EXTREMELY expensive and there is no way we could have afforded a new one, especially of this size, for the foreseeable future. We’d therefor decided that we’d just keep rocking our little beat up one until it literally fell apart✨ What you can’t see in this video, is us being taught what it is to be a truly great band, and that being a truly great band begins with music and genre, but in the end surpasses them both and comes to rest in your actions as people. When we went to find Brent, Barry, Eric and Zach after the show to thank them for their insanely generous gift, they said they didn’t want our thanks, and that they just wanted us to have success of our own, and that when we did get that success - we would pay it forward and help someone else out that needed it, as they’d helped us out, and as they’d experienced in their own journey to where they are now. In all of our 12 years of touring in DPU, we have never experienced generosity from a headlining band like this. That is what you can’t see in this video. Something far more valuable than just an insanely generous gift. A shining example of what it is to be truly great. So, to Brent, Barry, Eric, Zach and their amazing crew; from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. For truly leading by example, and for helping us out. We promise to pay it forward. Matt, Mike and Jim. XXX 🙏🙏🙏 @thebrentsmith @bkerchofficial @ebassprod @zmyersofficial > > A post shared by DINOSAUR PILE-UP (@dpuofficial) on Jul 21, 2019 at 11:07am PDT

Dinosaur Pile-Up released their 4th studio album 'Celebrity Mansions' in June 2019, and are on tour with Shinedown before returning home for a run of UK dates in December. Check out their riff-tastic single 'Thrash Metal Cassette' below:



Later on during the same gig as part of their headline set, Shinedown played Linkin Park’s ‘Numb’ through the sound system before covering of Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’.

Sharing a clip on Instagram, Shinedown wrote: “July 20th marked the anniversary of Chester Bennington's passing & musical peer Chris Cornell's birthday. We miss these incredible legends.”

> > > View this post on Instagram > > July 20th marked the anniversary of Chester Bennington's passing & musical peer Chris Cornell's birthday. We miss these incredible legends. You are both loved and forever missed... #MakeChesterProud . . 📷 @sanjayparikhphoto > > A post shared by SHINEDOWN (@shinedown) on Jul 21, 2019 at 4:01pm PDT

Back in February, Shinedown won two prestigious honours at Planet Rock's annual awards, The Rocks 2019 - Best International Band and Best International Album for ‘Attention Attention’

Shinedown are also special guests to Alter Bridge on their upcoming December 2019 arena Walk The Sky Tour. Tickets are on sale from Planet Rock Tickets now.

They play the following shows:

DECEMBER 2019

Nottingham Motorpoint Arena – Sat 14th

Manchester Arena – Sun 15th

Glasgow The SSE Hydro – Tue 17th

Birmingham Arena – Wed 18th

Cardiff Motorpoint Arena – Fri 20th

London The O2 – Sat 21st

[** > > Click here to buy tickets <