View Single Post
Old 07-01-2004, 03:29 AM   #1
Steve
Administrator
Steve's Avatar
USER INFO »
Status: Prophet Man
Posts: 3,297
Joined: Dec 2003
Currently: Offline
Contact:  Send a message via AIM to Steve Send a message via MSN to Steve
Nickelback / 3DD / Thornley Review

Well after getting home from an awsome concert I felt I had to write up a review really quick. SO here goes nothing...

I got there around 7:45 or so and Thornley had already started their set. My friend grabbed some food outside the Ampitheater and I ran into Jon (Collective Soul) from the forums here. That was kinda cool - meeting someone from the boards. I maneuvered (sp?) down to my seats which happened to be in the center section, row 3, seat 14/15 (dead smack in the middle, right in front of the lead singer's mic!). The sound was completely horrid for Thornley. They put on a great show - lots of energy from all the guys. They were all over the stage. However the bad part was that I could hear no vocals at all. All I heard was the feedback coming from the singer's monitors in front of him. Anytime the lead singer played his guitar, we couldn't hear any vocals at all. Aside from that issue I was really impressed with Thornley. At the end of their set they played a Big Wreck song!!!! I think it was The Oaf but I can't remember for sure.

Beer break! I went and spent $5 for a 16 oz plastic bottle of beer. Ugh!

Next it was 3 Doors Down. They played a tremendous set, including 2 brand new songs and 1 semi-new song (which is on the Another 700 Miles CD). One of the new songs was introduced as being written only three weeks ago. That was pretty cool. Overall I think that was the best I've ever seen 3 Doors Down perform. Only thing I disliked about them was their stage presence. One of the guitar players just stood their the entire show. The other guitarist walked around alot but that was about it. That was the only weakness I found in their set. They played all their hits and few others. For one song, Brad Arnold left the stage and went into the crowd, up the aisles, and stood on some makeshift stage halfway up in the Ampitheater. That was pretty cool. Another interesting highlight was right as Brad was walking back to the stage, a kid appeared on stage. He stood there in front of the drummer and kinda waved his hands in the air. Some puny security guard tried to get him to move but he kinda backed away from the guard and wouldn't move. All of a sudden this HUGE 300lb+ guy comes running on stage and tackles this kid. He turns him over on his stomach and tries to restrain him, then tries to pick him up and get him off the stage, but the kid wouldn't budge. He grabbed ahold of the stage set and wouldn't let go LOL. The rest of the band was kinda just watching this all unfold and laughing. Then a whole slew of security jumped up and finally got the kid off stage. Right before the next song, Brad Arnold says "Man I thought for a minute we had an extra band member" heh It was good to see the guys were joking about it and not making too big a deal of it.

After just over an hour, they finished their set. And yet another beer break!

Finally Nickelback takes the stage. Immediately you could feel the energy from them. That is the one thing I've always liked about Nickelback - they know how to work the stage and the audience. Their stage presence is just awsome. The jam through Flat on the Floor and Woke Up This Morning and then went into Someday and Leader of Men. They had some intense flames and pyros going on during a few of their songs - it was nicely integrated into their set. After Leader of Men I kinda lost track of the set, but they did play Feelin' Way To Damn Good and a tease of Sad But True. They also played Believe It or Not and Too Bad in there somewhere. At one point here Chad Kroeger was looking around at the audience and said something to the effect of "Man I want to just stop playing and come down and have a beer with you guys" - at which point a guy in the front row (just in front of me) hands his beer to Chad. Chad downs it and has the guitar tech Timmy bring out 6 bottles of beer for the people there in the front row!! That was awsome. They also did the "Beer-o-Clock" where they brought up like 50 glasses of 1/4 full beer and tossed them into the crowd. Then they finished their set, left, and came back for the encore. He introduced the encore by saying "Well this is banned in the UK but fuck it, we're going to play it here." and the entire audience just screamed the opening lines "I like your pants around your feet"

Also at one point in NB's set, Chad threw a guitar pick towards my area. It fell on the ground and everyone around me was trying to find it. They pulled out their lighters and were scouring the floor for it. I happened to spot it though and quickly snatched it up. I ended up with a Chad Kroeger guitar pick !!!

Overall I thought the best performance of the night was by 3 Doors Down. I'm more of a Nickelback fan than a 3DD fan but I just thought 3DD's set was much better. It sure seemed like their set was longer - maybe because their songs are a bit slower than NB's. My friend and I both thought that NB's set went by really quickly, and it seemed like they only played about 10 songs or so. In the end this was the best concert I've seen this whole year. All three bands put forth a great show. If this tour comes to your area you better hit it.

By the way, looking back from my seat it sure seemed like there was a near sellout crowd at the show - which means around 25,000 people!!!
__________________
-Steve

The things that I've loved the things that I've lost
The things I've held sacred that I've dropped
I won't lie no more you can bet
I don't want to learn what I'll need to forget
- Audioslave, "Doesn't Remind Me"
Reply With Quote