3 Doors Down can still rock

Live Review                                               

                                    Daughtry, 3 Doors Down, Halestorm & Bad Seed Rising

                                                                        Rock CMAC

                                                                                    on

                                                            Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Overall Scale:
3 Doors Down: 4 out of 5 Stars ****
Halestorm: 3 out of 5 Stars ***
Bad Seed Rising: 3 out of 5 Stars ***

This past Tuesday night provided an excellent time for a concert when Daughtry brought 3 Doors Down, Halestorm and breakout artist Bad Seed Rising to Upstate New York at CMAC. Despite the intense heat index of 99 degrees F, the weather cooled off by the end of the night and the concert was an overall a success and worth going to. 3 Doors Down proved they can still rock, Halestorm’s Lizzy Hale carried the band throughout their set and Bad Seed Rising came off as bit surprising and better than expected for 11 through 15 year old kids.

            It was a variety mix of rock bands that came to Upstate New York on Tuesday night. Bad Seed Rising’s influences come from Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses, while Halestorm is a much more harder edged band out of the performers there and closer to the metal genre. 3 Doors Down and Daughtry are both follow along melodies of pop rock. But one can argue 3DD has a more general and solid rock sound than Daughtry, who’s pop sounds and fame to claim came was acquired from placing second in a previous American Idol season.

            First up on the batting list was Bad Seed Rising. Jack Black’s School of Rock influenced Bad Seed Rising are breaking new grounds on the front of rock and role because they’re unlike any other band out today. Why? Because the band consists of young teens from ages 11 through 15. While listening to their hit single on Youtube, ‘I won’t be the one’, one can tell what is impressive with these kids is they can rock and pull off a tune, the band itself may have a long way to go before producing something top notch quality. This is mostly because the lead singers constant and somewhat annoying inputs of ‘La La La’ throughout most of their songs that aren’t necessary. However, when the kids graced the stage as the opening band, they put on an excellent display of guitar work, drums and singing that was impressive to say the least. The band’s sounds are much better heard live than in the studio or on the internet, and Bad Seed’s Rising’s guitarist has tons of potential to become a great female force in the future of rock n roll. Even ‘I won’t be the one’ sounded much better live than on the video. Bad Seed Rising performed above expectations and are a band to check out for any rock listeners seeking to hear new music.

            The hot afternoon was at its peak when Halestorm busted out onto the stage. This didn’t stop the band from truly rocking out for at least forty minutes. Lead singer Lizzy Hale introduced the set with a voice solo as the other band members came on stage, which was most striking. Halestorm rocked throughout most of their set that even included a drum solo toward the ending. Another young band in the terms of rock and role with only two albums under their heels, Halestorm proved they are not ones to be ignored. The band performed all their hit songs including ‘I Get Off’, ‘I Miss the Misery’ and ‘Freak like me’. It’s obvious that the band is centered around girl power with their lyrics and songs mostly female based, but more kudos for them for that purpose. ‘I’m Lizzy Hale,’ the lead singer pronounced, ‘and I’m a little bit Freaky!’ This pretty much sums up the entire band of Halestorm and her energy throughout the set list. Halestorm is a must see band for those listening to alternative rock music. Their energy and young determination carries the show and Halestorm isn’t a force to be reckoned with and overall worth going to see live.

            As part of rock music for the past ten years now, 3 Doors Down’s music may seem unfortunately fading in today’s world. Whenever a band puts out a greatest hits album, one can argue that their peak has came and went. Also discouraging to note is that 3 Doors Down has not put out a new album in well over three years now, and their music may be centered around the past now as the Iraq war is almost finished. However, with all this being said, this didn’t stop the band from putting on an excellent performance as a Co-headliner. 3 Doors Down performed high above expectations. Their sound quality was excellent, and anyone could clearly hear every word the lead singer was singing. While it’s clear that the band is a hard based Christian group, this didn’t stop people from getting up off their seats, singing and cheering through all their songs. Let’s face it, 3 Doors Down has had a number of hits over the years including ‘Loser’, ‘Away from the Sun’ ‘If I could be Like that’ and ‘Citizen Soldier.’ The band performed each of these extremely well, and there was an impressive drum competition and solo during their set between the drummer and the lead singer. Daughtry even came on stage with the band while they performed ‘Kryptonite’. While ten years may have passed since the group’s beginnings, 3 Doors Down proved Tuesday night that they can still perform well and are a great group to see live.

            The concert Tuesday night of July 16, 2013 at CMAC was overall a great success. Each band added their own unique energy to the stage. Even Daughtry, who was the headliner of the concert, performed well and had the crowd up and cheering with mostly everyone staying for his set. The above 90 degrees F heat didn’t stop the bands from rocking out, or people going to the show to enjoy a good time. And a good time it was, for both 3 Doors Down and Halestorm are worth seeing these days in the world of rock and alternative music. Next time Lizzy Hale is in town, it’s clearly okay to turn a little bit into your ‘freak’ side and head out and see the band.

Photos:
Photo Credit Justin Tarbell