Within the first 10 minutes of its Saturday (9/24) show at Phoenix's Cricket Pavilion, Massachusetts' Godsmack [ tickets ] had already set the bar high. Maybe too high.

The 90-minute set began with a well-done selection of Godsmack video highlights set to AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock." Fans cheered wildly when the video screens aired scenes of singer Sully Erna with late Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Erna playing a drum duet with his bandmate Shannon Larkin, former Boston Red Sox player Johnny Damon singing with Godsmack, and backstage antics.

The 10-minute intro culminated in a live, backstage shot of Godsmack emerging from the dressing room and heading out to the Cricket Pavilion stage. A white curtain dropped and pyro lit up the stage. Military scenes took over the three screens, and when a helicopter fired, fireworks shot from the main video screen in the middle of the stage. When Erna emerged, Godsmack began the show with "Straight Out of Line," from 2003's "Faceless."

While the show started on a strong note, the momentum was inconsistent throughout the performance. After "Straight Out of Line," Erna shot to stage right and shadow boxed to the beginning of "Speak," from Godsmack's latest album, "IV." During the chorus, Erna pointed at the audience and, without any direction, the crowd responded by shouting "speak." "Bleeding Me" was just as strong, powered by Erna's forceful vocals and Tony Rombola's nimble guitar playing.

But songs like "Re-Align" and the usually fabulous "Voodoo" were plagued with pacing problems, with instrumental and vocal moments seemingly at different speeds. "Keep Away" fell victim to the overuse of instrumental solos, with the song clocking in at eight minutes.

Rob Zombie [ tickets ], one of two openers, also suffered. Zombie got off to a strong start, kicking off his set with a rousing version of "American Witch," complete with campy horror videos. The band, which includes bassist Blasko, guitarist John 5 and drummer Tommy Clufetos, dressed in glow-in-the-dark masks and outfits, which were shed during the second song, "Living Dead Girl." The band was accompanied by two female dancers who stood atop two of the five video screens positioned throughout the stage.

The quality of the set quickly slid with Zombie even admitting he may have screwed up a song, "More Human Than Human."

"I played that song so many times--I thought I f---ed it up," Zombie told the audience after the miserable take on the White Zombie hit. "It's about the 2,000th time we've played it. It's easy to f--- it up." But "Never Gonna Stop" and "House of 1,000 Corpses" were equally weak.

The set was similar to the one he played at the Mesa Amphitheatre in Mesa, AZ, earlier in the year. A giant robot joined the band for "More Human Than Human," adding comic relief by spanking John 5 as he played a guitar solo. Clips of the Manson family accompanied songs from Zombie's collection.

Despite sharing the stage with two heavy hitters, Jacksonville, FL's Shinedown [ tickets ] provided the strongest set of the night. The band performed an impressive acoustic rendition of Concrete Blonde's "Bloodletting" as a prelude to the song "Simple Man," which singer Brent Smith dedicated to the late "Dimebag" Darrell.

"There are not enough words to explain how amazing he was," he said.

The segment took a dramatic turn as drummer Barry Kerch strolled on stage and added punch to "Simple Man."

Smith flipped a switch from sympathetic to playfully bossy with the audience. He said he was not sure if he wanted the show to continue, so he urged the crowd to stand up, punch their fists in the air and yell "hey hey hey hey."

"I'm not asking, I'm telling," he said with a devilish grin. Afterward, he honored some of his favorite people before launching into the rolling drums and swirling guitars of "Begin Again."

"This song is dedicated to all the demons below and all the angels up there," Smith said.