Photography and Review by Daisy Fromkin
Collective Soul and 3 Doors Down
Collective Soul still has that smooth muted falsetto that frontman Ed Roland is known for, time has not changed the Iconic glasses or wild mane that is synonymous with his name. Roland and his brother Dean grew up with music, their father a church minister who taught them appreciation of the greats: Johnny Cash, Elton John, and the Eagles. The show kicked off with “Nows the Time” slid into “Over Me” with Jesse Triplett slinging wahful energy and kept up with “Shine”, moving from full stage to side piano with the grace of experienced performers.
Throughout the entire set list you could feel the respect and element of fun that this group has created together with their love of music, and you can tell they have no intention of stopping. Their current line up reflects this drive with the dominating guitar talent of Jesse Triplett, solid bass of Will Turpin, precision percussion of Johnny Rabb, effortlessly smooth guitar of Dean Roland and the melodic charisma of Dean Roland.
The dropped in on “Heavy “ to get the WahWah on, Why pt 2, Better Now, Precious, December, Right as Rain, and Observation of Thought. They perform with a close interaction with the audience, they reach for them, converse with them and feed into their energy, pulling our hearts with melancholy hope with “The World I Know” in the way music from this era has been known to do. The show began to wind down with “Gel” and “River Flows” complete with interaction and commentary on where they were as musicians when the songs were created. Moments that felt intimate even inside the large venue. They ended our time together with “Run” drawing down until it was a soft and as sweet as whisper, then… they were gone.
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3 Doors Down followed Collective Soul with a harder and slightly edgier sound. Brad Arnold with is signature disarming smile bursting forth with energy and stage presence that even with his ball cap pulled low you could feel radiate outward. The stage simply set and the object most eye catching for this writer a “Hulk” in all its green glory hunkered down by a mic stand. The driving forces behind the gravely sweet rasp of Arnold consist of: Chet Roberts on lead guitar, Chris Henderson on Guitar, Justin Biltonen on Bass and Greg Upchurch on drums.
The pure electric joy of Roberts and Henderson drew attention and you could see the comradery and excitement they still have for live performance and perform they do, pulsing toward the front of the stage where you wonder if they will take flight. From “Duck and Run” the light show slid across the stage “Time of My Life” with its heavy guitar into “Its Not My Time” each song powerfully delivered with the same precision and hard guitar that made them “Grittier” than their counterparts on the radio in the 90s.
The crowd consisted of a deep dedicated fan base that knew every song and their reaction to each first few notes was thunderously appreciative. The Band seemed to gain more and more energy as the crowd continued to build and they worked to deliver that power back until finally going crazy with Kryptonite closing the set, encore appropriately “Here Without You and When I’m Gone” and then they were.
These two bands are a perfect complement to one another, like finding a smooth stone had a perfectly rough underbelly. My recommendation is catch this train when it rolls through your town.
Writers Comments:
Favorite Moment: Spotting the Hulk on stage, I Love the Hulk
Best Overheard Comment: (woman in crowd during 3DD) “That bassist is fine.” (I’d agree)
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Because someone has to watch the Bands
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