Theory Of A Dead Man, and 3 Doors Down

by Crystal Weir

Valentines Day, I took my one and only sweetie out for the evening. It was probably the only time I have ever actually gone out on Valentines Day, since I think the whole concept of this holiday is a crock of shit. Anyway, this was one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time, and what a pleasant surprise! ‘My Sweetie’, Autumn, is my six year old daughter. She is my only love. She just fucking rocks!

Theory of a Dead Man and 3 Doors Down were playing a sold out Valentines Day show, and because I’m not really a big fan I didn’t plan to review the show, so I didn’t make any arrangements to attend. My daughter loves 3 Doors Down, and she advised me that she had thought about it and it was time for her first concert. True enough.

I made some calls to try to arrange our attendance, but couldn’t reach anybody. I felt bad ‘cause she was bummed, but I told her I would make it up to her with a special Valentine’s surprise when I picked her up from school. I didn’t have a clue how I was going to follow through with that promise since I had not a single idea of what the ‘special’ surprise could be! Thank god I didn’t have to get creative! I got a phone call at 0930 saying everything had been taken care of and to be there early so we could sneak Autumn in the back door before they opened the doors to let the crowd in.

She was so fucking excited, it was simply adorable! We got there and went inside, and there was already a line forever long outside. I showed her all around, and we watched the sound check and explained what they were doing, and she asked a million questions.

Finally they opened the doors, and about an hour later the show started.

Theory of a Dead Man kicked off the show. They are a Canadian band who was signed by Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger’s label. (That explains a lot.) I had heard their recent release playing on the radio a couple of times, and thought it was kinda catchy. Though the lyrics were lacking originality, the singer has a nice voice.

At any rate, they began the show and I laughed my ass off watching Autumn react to everything. The first thing was the lights and the initial adjustment to the noise level. The second was her evaluation of the sounds she was hearing. I could soooo tell she was not impressed with Theory of a Dead Man. And neither was I, actually. The sound was horrible throughout the entire show, the sound people couldn’t seem to get it right. Eventually, the singer began going over and messing with things himself between songs.

The band looked uncomfortable on stage, and while there need not be ‘action’ necessarily, there should be some sort of energy going on. I took note that there was very little crowd movement either, and at one point the vocalist even asked the audience “are you guys alive out there?”. I was entertained nonetheless.

It cracked me up that the singer had a guitar for the entire show, but played an average of only about 12 seconds per song. ( and it wasn’t a good 12 seconds) It made me giggle that between EVERY SINGLE SONG the crew would rush out and give everyone a new guitar. What’s the point of changing guitars for every song in the first place? And, the vocalist never played the mother fucker anyway, so I REALLY didn’t get that. They played 11-12 songs.

The crowd never really warmed up to them, and they never did get the sound smoothed out. I think they will come and go as so many bands do, going on tour with a few bigger names as a support act and then fading away. When you have 10 bands who sound exactly alike, the ones who suck live aren’t gonna go anywhere. But who knows…maybe I’m wrong and they’ll be the next Nickelback. (That was a joke. Can you tell I’m not a fan of Nickelback?)

After a very brief break, the lights dimmed and it was time for 3 Doors Down. As I said before, it’s not that I don’t like them, they just never struck a nerve with me, you know? But I listened to them when it came on the radio and thought they were okay.

Umm, I still can’t believe this..but…are you ready???? I don’t have a single bad thing to say about their show. Zilch, zero, nada. They are truly an excellent fit with one another. They came out to play, and they were awesome..no bullshit. Jeans and teeshirts, what you see is what you get. Flawless. Good chemistry amongst band members, and the band/crowd interaction was fabulous as well. Autumn noticed right away that the crowd began to respond immediately. The sound was perfect as well, which means that Theory of a Dead Man, not the venue, was responsible for bad sound.

I’m not saying that I’m a 3 Doors Down fan now or anything, because I still feel the same about their music…it’s pretty okay, but it’s not one that would get stuck in my cd player. It’s average. Live, however, they delivered a meticulous performance that I’ve really only seen once before. There songs are all pretty mellow, and they tend to have sort of deep emotional drive behind them. It was a perfect for my little sweet pea. It was absolutely the best show I could have chosen to take her to. It was such an experience for her. It’s a first…. I have nothing to bitch about!

In closing, I’d like to say that 3 Doors Down may have delivered the best live performance I’ve seen, with the exception of one other show. It’s not ‘my kinda music’ really, but I don’t have to like it in order to recognize that they are phenomenal fucking performers. AND..it made my kid happy, and if she’s happy, I’m happy. She got her fist autographed cd, and she wouldn’t let go of it for two days. She is already hooked on the live shit. In fact, she asked me the other day if I would “please get us in to see Red Hot Chili Peppers”. Unfortunately, Flea is way too unpredictable for that to happen. He’s got such a casual attitude toward clothing/no clothing, etc., I think it would be a bit much for her this early in the game.

If you get a chance to see 3 Doors Down, even if you don’t dig them too much, check them out. They really did a great job. Also, you can make fun of Theory of a Dead Man, and there’s nothing more entertaining than making fun of people, right?

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