Three Days Grace brings their “Explosions” tour to Oshawa Ontario along with supporting acts The Warning and The Standstills.
The evening started with local act The Standstills. The husband and wife duo Jonny Fox and Renee Couture, along with newly acquired bassist Brendan McMillan, formally from My Darkest Days, had a surprise in store for the crowd. Two special guests would join them on stage to shoot a music video. Guitarist Barry Stock (Three Days Grace) along with singer Jessie Hughes ( Eagles of Death Metal). They performed Motherlode while being surrounded by multiple videographers on stage catching the moments. Once the song was complete, they repeated the tune one more time to get as much footage as possible. Before the second pass, Jonny also encouraged the crowd to sing along, and gave a quick lyrical lesson to the crowd, stating “Are you ready to sing your asses off”? This hard-rock Canadian act was a great fit for the bill!
Next up was the sister rock act hailing from Mexico called The Warning. The siblings, Daniela (Dany) Villarreal Vélez on vocals, drummer Paulina Villarreal Vélez and bassist Alejandra Villarreal Vélez have been performing since 2013. Metal giants Metallica invited them to perform on “The Metallica Blacklist” charity project, which would benefit Metallica’s own “All Within My Hands” foundation and “Save the Children”. Midway through their set, The Warning performed their rendition of Enter Sandman. It wasn’t the typical cover song, but rather a unique spin and sound of the classic song. Feminine and melodic, yet was easily recognizable as Enter Sandman. This trio act is super tight live, performing killer catchy riffs and having great stage performance. It’s exciting to discover new-to-me acts when covering shows. I’m confident they are on the rise to great success.
Tuesday nights are not typically considered a party night, however, Three Days Grace blew that notion out of the water. This “hometown show” had 150 friends and family on their guest list, along with 1000 beers backstage. By show time the booze supply had been decimated.
The lights dimmed and the crowd chanted repeatedly Three Days Grace at the top of their lungs. The band’s logo appeared on the backdrop along with two flaming hearts that flanked each side of the stage. Three Days Grace makes their way to the stage and frontman Matt Walst commands the audience to jump up and get out of their seats, stating this is no BackStreet Boys concert and the crowd goes wild!
It doesn’t take long for the mosh pit to start swirling. Crowd surfers emerge and the party continues!
Jiggy Walst, the party alter ego of Matt was present and lively. He announced that it had already been 10 years since he joined the band and that one of his first gigs with Three Days Grace was in Oshawa. He thanked the crowd for accepting him with open arms.
Midway through their 17-song set, Three Days Grace slowed things down to perform acoustically The Highroad and World So Cold. Drummer and co-founder Neil Sanderson stepped away from the kit to tickle keys at the front of the stage. While performing these songs, the venue lit up with cell lights.
Did you know guitarist Barry Stock owns a company called Mean Beard? Well, you know now! Matt Walst announced that he was paid each time he mentioned the brand, and Stock shot bills at him from a money gun. Not only is Barry a notable musician but also a successful entrepreneur!
Three Days Grace invited a few girls up on stage to perform Just Like You. You could certainly tell who the extravert was in the group of girls. While the girls were basically huddled together, one girl stepped out onto the riser, demanding attention. Although they had mics, you could barely hear them, and it was probably a good thing. They certainly enjoyed themselves and would have a story to tell!
Three Days Grace performed four songs from their 6th studio album, released May 6, 2022, entitled Explosions. So Called Life, I am the Weapon, Neurotic and Lifetime, leaving the bulk of the set to prior hits and fan favorites. Before performing Neurotic, Matt explained that it was a song about being a little crazy, stuck in your on mind, and being neurotic. When performing Lifetime, he explained that this song was about missing people up in heaven and wishing you could speak to them one last time. The venue lit up again with the hue of cell phone lights.
Sometimes you see concerts of your favorite acts and leave disappointed with their live performance. This is never the case with Three Days Grace. They will continue to remain one of my favorite live bands. If you get a chance to see them, don’t miss out!
A special thanks to Live Nation for the accreditation.
Connect with The Standstills : WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / TWITTER
Connect with The Warning : WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / TWITTER
Connect with Three Days Grace : WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / TWITTER
All photos by Sue Hebert Sadzak ©2022
Three Days Grace
The StandStills
The Warning
