I recently attended the Calgary stop of Three Days Grace’s first headlining tour in Canada. The line-up for the show looked great with four bands that are receiving moderate to high rotation across Canada. The only problem with the seeing a concert in Calgary is that most venues have a hard time getting all the patrons in the venue quickly allowing them to see all of the bands. This was the case with this show, five doors with only one open. I ended up missing Idle Sons, I really wanted to see them, and Mobile, I wasn’t as disappointed with missing them. I can also attribute missing Mobile to the fact that the venue didn’t have my media pass that was supposed to be waiting for me, but that’s another story. Fortunately for me cameras were allowed at the show and I still got some decent pictures.

After all the waiting I was ready to get into the venue and hear some music, too bad there was a break between bands when I finally got in. I then decided to check out the merch that the bands were selling. The shirts were decent and I ended up getting an Idle Sons shirt to make up for missing their show and to support a band that is really one of the great up and comers in Canadian rock music. Everything seemed to be decently priced with shirts being thirty dollars and CD’s going for ten dollars. Of course there were more high ticket items like hoodies but you had to bite the bullet to get one.

Just as I was finishing up at the merch table Theory Of A Deadman hit the stage. I had preconceptions of what Theory Of A Deadman would sound like live since I have never seen them before but had seen their mentors, Nickelback, a few times. Not unlike their mentors Theory put on a solid rock show. They have taken all the guidance that their mentors have gave them and taken it to heart. The set was filled with the bands hits and the catchiest songs that never hit radio. I was actually surprised at how full the bands set was since they have only put out two releases. The only time the band stepped outside of their norm was when they played a rousing Stone Temple Pilots cover which sounded a bit harder and heavier than the rest of the set. The crowd really fed off the energy of the band and helped the band out with a song or two along the way. If I didn’t know any better I would say that Theory Of A Deadman was the headliner, and on most nights they would be, but tonight was all about Three Days Grace.

Before I can get to Three Days Grace I have to back track a bit to Idle Sons and Mobile. Between Theory Of A Deadman’s set and Three Days Grace’s set I headed back down to the merch table to find Idle Sons and Mobile relentlessly signing autographs and acknowledging their amazing fans. I was lucky enough to meet Idle Sons briefly and a get a picture of them with a big biker looking guy who was hanging around the merch table. I talked to them briefly and they seemed like the most down to earth guys. I was just about to converse with Mobile but I was interrupted by Three Days Grace hitting the stage, maybe next time Mobile.

Three Days Grace hit the stage with a blistering force and the sound resonated throughout the old hockey arena, how appropriate for a Canadian rock band. As much as Theory Of A Deadman impressed you could tell who the people were here to see. From the moment that Three Days Grace Hit the stage the crowd was mesmerized. Every word singer Adam Gontier sang and every note the band played made the crowd want more. The set was evenly balanced with material from the bands self titled debut and their recently released album ‘One-X’. At times the set seemed to really reflect the true meaning of the songs. Everyone in the audience almost started a riot when “Riot” was played, “Pain” brought out a darker side of the audience and “Home” brought out pure anger from all. Like Theory Of A Deadman, Three Days Grace also played a few covers. The first was a cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” which was done solo acoustic style by Adam. The band also did a heavy cover of Filter’s “Hey Man, Nice Shot” in the middle of playing “Home”. Everything that the band played was soaked up by the crowd and it really showed how easy it is for people to relate to Three Days Grace’s music. The band ended the set with their biggest hit “I Hate Everything About You”. There was not a person in the crowd who was sitting down at this point. The chorus echoed through the building as the crowd saved their loudest sing-a-long for the end. There was no encore on this night but I am finding that more and more bands are doing this these days. As I left the arena with my ears slightly ringing I was satisfied with the great show that I saw. I would recommend that anyone who is a fan of good old rock music with angst go see this tour.

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