State Of Shock, Puddle Of Mudd, Daughtry, Nickelback

Last night, I went to the Molson's Amphitheater here in Toronto to see State Of Shock, Puddle Of Mudd, Daughtry and Nickelback.

In fact I'll be honest and come right out and say that I purchased the ticket for Daughtry only. He was the one I wanted to see. The American Idol tour didn't come to Toronto for his season, and I didn't know when Daughtry would come out here with his band. So when I learned he was coming to open for Nickelback, I jumped at the occasion and got a ticket with three other friends.

I'm not going to review Nickelback - I don't know many of their songs, and frankly I'm not a huge fan. To read a really good review, go here:

http://torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2007/07/05/4314486-sun.html

But I will say this about Nickelback. They put on one hell of a show! I could have done without the explosions (my fucking ears are still bleeding!), but other than that, I thought they were a really good live band. The guitarist (Ryan I think?) is one hell of a guitar player, and he's got a really good voice, too. I love his style. The drummer (Daniel?) - SWOON! Not only is he a cutie, but damn!!! The boy can PLAY!!! He banged those drums all freaking night, and he did a killer solo - the highlight of the NB show for me. WOW! Seriously amazing. And the lead singer, Chad Kroeger... He's got a good, rock voice, and he is awesome with the crowd. Reviews are saying he was tired, but damn... If that's what he puts out when he's tired, I shutter to think of what he puts out when he is in top form. He engaged the crowd really well, played with them, and just seemed to generally have a good time with all of us. Really, it was a really good show!

Ok, so on to Daughtry...

He was so freaking awesome I cannot even begin to describe it. He looks great in person, and his band rocks harder than on the album. They did quite a few songs: in no particular order: What I Want (which fucking ROCKED!!!), Home, It's Not Over, Used To, Over You, Crashed, Breakdown (OMG that one was really powerful), Gone, There and Back Again, and I think that's it. The set flew by very quickly. Daughtry's voice cuts through the music really well, and reaches out to the audience. His stage presence is really good, he moves all over the stage, climbs speakers and addresses the audience. The music grabs us by the collar and says "Hey hear us out!". That band is TIGHT. I was very impressed. Chris tried a few times to engage the audience to sing on songs the average fan probably doesn't know... A few of us did sing, but not many. But on the really well known songs - Home and It's Not Over - the crowd roared and showed tons of love to Daughtry.

I really hope he'll come back as the headliner - I would go see him again in a heartbeat!