11/19/2009
Monday’s Idol effort
Ear Full
Daughtry’s show, although impressive, falls on deaf ears
By Dustin Drevitch
Monday’s Idol effort
Ear Full
Daughtry’s show, although impressive, falls on deaf ears
By Dustin Drevitch
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American Idol’s rock ’n’ roll spawn Chris Daughtry and his band Daughtry brought its Leave This Town Tour 2009 to the Wachovia Arena on Monday night to a less then enthusiastic crowd. Showing a serious case of the “Mondays,” the crowd was often seen yawning, leaning and even taking a quick nap during the course of the show.
Daughtry took the stage at 9:10 p.m. to the Batman theme song before blasting into a heavy version of the Leave This Town track, “Every Time You Turn Around.” Daughtry’s sound was well mixed, with every instrument coming through clearly and Chris’ vocals soaring, an obvious change from the lackluster sound of Theory of a Deadman. Chris was vocally superb, not hitting a sour note throughout the 17-song set.
Daughtry didn’t hide that it was touring in support of its latest release. The radio rockers played a large chunk of the new record with tracks including “Like I Do,” Open Your Eyes,” “Tennessee Line” and “September.”
The crowd seemed to wake up a bit when the band launched into “It’s Not Over,” during which Daughtry made his way onto his ego ramp to interact with the crowd, which included a wide variety of people — elderly couples, mother-daughter duos and a few boyfriends that were undoubtedly forced to accompany their significant other.
There’s no arguing that Daughtry has the hits. The majority of the set aside from the new Leave This Town tracks were all radio singles. Chart toppers such as “Over You,” “Feels Like Tonight” and the new smash single, “No Surprise,” showed the radio side of Daughtry.
The other side of Daughtry, however, can rock. It’s a guitar-oriented, polished rock band that is well-rehearsed and impressively solid. The more aggressive side came out periodically throughout the evening with heavy hitters such as “What I Want” and the lead track on Leave This Town, “You Don’t Belong,” which featured a rippin’ outro of the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).”
Other covers incorporated into the 90-minute set included an intimate version of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” which found Daughtry sitting alone with acoustic guitar in hand on his ego ramp before drummer Joey Barnes and a pair of glowing drum sticks chimed in with the most famous drum fill of all time. A version of The Toadies’ “Possum Kingdom,” the lowest part of the set, was also performed.
Encores included “Home” and the hard rocking “There and Back Again.”
With an impressive production, including ramps and pyro, a clear sound and hit songs out the ass, it’s no surprise Daughtry is successful. The band is tight and has great chemistry. Maybe next time he rolls into town, it’ll be on a Tuesday.
The show opened with a short set by Cavo, followed by Theory of a Deadman, which took the stage at 8:05 p.m. to the A-Team theme song. Theory opened with “So Happy” and right off the bat it was apparent that Theory’s sound was muffled and singer Tyler Connolly’s voice was shot. Connolly struggled to hit notes and sang flat for the duration of the set.
Theory’s set also included mediocre versions of “Santa Monica,” No Surprise,” and the set closer “Bad Girlfriend” in which the attendees at least showed a short burst of energy.
-ddrevitch@timesshamrock.com
Daughtry took the stage at 9:10 p.m. to the Batman theme song before blasting into a heavy version of the Leave This Town track, “Every Time You Turn Around.” Daughtry’s sound was well mixed, with every instrument coming through clearly and Chris’ vocals soaring, an obvious change from the lackluster sound of Theory of a Deadman. Chris was vocally superb, not hitting a sour note throughout the 17-song set.
Daughtry didn’t hide that it was touring in support of its latest release. The radio rockers played a large chunk of the new record with tracks including “Like I Do,” Open Your Eyes,” “Tennessee Line” and “September.”
The crowd seemed to wake up a bit when the band launched into “It’s Not Over,” during which Daughtry made his way onto his ego ramp to interact with the crowd, which included a wide variety of people — elderly couples, mother-daughter duos and a few boyfriends that were undoubtedly forced to accompany their significant other.
There’s no arguing that Daughtry has the hits. The majority of the set aside from the new Leave This Town tracks were all radio singles. Chart toppers such as “Over You,” “Feels Like Tonight” and the new smash single, “No Surprise,” showed the radio side of Daughtry.
The other side of Daughtry, however, can rock. It’s a guitar-oriented, polished rock band that is well-rehearsed and impressively solid. The more aggressive side came out periodically throughout the evening with heavy hitters such as “What I Want” and the lead track on Leave This Town, “You Don’t Belong,” which featured a rippin’ outro of the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).”
Other covers incorporated into the 90-minute set included an intimate version of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” which found Daughtry sitting alone with acoustic guitar in hand on his ego ramp before drummer Joey Barnes and a pair of glowing drum sticks chimed in with the most famous drum fill of all time. A version of The Toadies’ “Possum Kingdom,” the lowest part of the set, was also performed.
Encores included “Home” and the hard rocking “There and Back Again.”
With an impressive production, including ramps and pyro, a clear sound and hit songs out the ass, it’s no surprise Daughtry is successful. The band is tight and has great chemistry. Maybe next time he rolls into town, it’ll be on a Tuesday.
The show opened with a short set by Cavo, followed by Theory of a Deadman, which took the stage at 8:05 p.m. to the A-Team theme song. Theory opened with “So Happy” and right off the bat it was apparent that Theory’s sound was muffled and singer Tyler Connolly’s voice was shot. Connolly struggled to hit notes and sang flat for the duration of the set.
Theory’s set also included mediocre versions of “Santa Monica,” No Surprise,” and the set closer “Bad Girlfriend” in which the attendees at least showed a short burst of energy.
-ddrevitch@timesshamrock.com