Three Days Grace, London

A few months ago I found out that one of my favourite bands, Three Days Grace, were going to be coming to London to perform at the Electric Ballroom, and I was so excited and bought tickets immediately.

Three days Grace is a Canadian rock band, originally named Groundswell in 1992, and regrouped in 1997 as Three Days Grace. It consists of the members Barry Stock (lead guitar), Brad Walst (bass), Neil Sanderson (drums and backing vocals) and Matt Walst (vocals). Adam Gontier used to be the lead vocalist but left the band in 2013, which is a shame.

The support act were Colt 45, the 3 piece alt rock band from Cumbria, and they were a good start to the show. I’d never heard of them before, but they had nice accents and quite good songs.

After their performance, the audience eagerly anticipated the arrival of Three Days Grace onto the stage, chanting and cheering. ‘Twas exciting.

The setlist was:
1. Just Like You
2. Chalk Outline
3. Painkiller
4. Break
5. The High Road
6. Let You Down
7. Pain
8. Home
9. Drum And Piano Interlude
10. Drum Solo
11. Misery Loves My Company
12. Break Stuff (Limp Bizkit Cover)
13. World So Cold
14. The Good Life
15. I Hate Everything About You
16. Animal I have Become
Encore:
17. Never Too Late
18. Riot

I’m really glad they played some of my favourite songs (which was probably quite likely as many of my favourite songs are 3DG ones). Pain was the first song I ever heard of theirs and I have since loved it, and Misery Loves My Company and The High Road are my favourites from their last album, Transit Of Venus.

Although Three Days Grace no longer have Adam Gontier’s great and recognisable vocals I think that Matt Walst is a good replacement, as he sang very well and his voice also matches their most recent song, Painkiller. However, I must admit that Adam’s voice was better in terms of displaying emotions and meaning for the song as although Matt sings well he doesn’t give quite the same feel to the music, but that’s just my view. 3DG now have a slightly different sound, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but I’m just not too used to it yet.

I would’ve loved to have been slightly further forward in the crowd, but couldn’t get there any earlier as it takes me a while to get there from school. Oh well, I really enjoyed it and it was so great actually seeing them and singing along with other fans.

It was a brilliant night and I’m so glad that they came to London, not having performed there in 10 years! The person in front of me caught a drumstick and person behind me caught a t-shirt (note to self: learn to catch) and the audience moved around so much and kept knocking into people by me, as I was at the side of a mosh pit, so there were a load of sweaty people brushing past me. Lovely. 🙂

John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme final S3 recording

As I’m a fool I forgot to apply for most of the John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme series 3 radio recordings so didn’t get tickets and couldn’t go. However, on the last recording I chose to go to BBC Broadcasting House at the end of the recording to say hi to the cast.

It was a bit annoying hearing everyone talking and laughing about the sketches they’d just heard, but at the same time I’m happy that it’ll be a surprise for me when it comes on the radio. John Finnemore and JFSP fans are some of the best and are extremely dedicated and kind, as they always seem to bring along gifts for the cast and have clothes covered in references to sketches and Cabin Pressure. Some people had even brought along a crocheted character from the most recent JFSP which I recognised from the only recording from this series I went to.

I also got a brief chat with John Finnemore and photos with Lawry Lewin, Simon Kane and Margaret Cabourn-Smith. The cast of JFSP are so nice and a crowd gathered around them, talking for quite a while and getting autographs and pictures.

I’m really looking forward to Souvenir Programme as the sketches I’ve already heard are really funny and John Finnemore is a great writer! It’ll be exciting hearing new sketches on the radio for the first time!

Amy Lee, Aftermath

Recently Amy Lee, famously known as the lead singer of the rock band Evanescence, released her first solo album, titled ‘Aftermath.’ This album consists of 10 songs from and inspired by Mark Jackson’s film War Story, which it’s the soundtrack for, and the songs were written by Amy Lee and Dave Eggar.

This album is very interesting and indeed very different from the music of Evanescence and what Amy Lee fans are used to, but it is all the same very beautiful. The songs consist of a mix of electronic and orchestral influences as well as a few containing Amy Lee’s voice.

The album shows how Amy isn’t afraid to experiment as she has reported in past interviews that she isn’t afraid to mix with other genres, such as in the 2012 NME interview where Amy said,

“I like all types of music. I feel like Evanescence is a great outlet for what I love, I’ve never felt like I had to hold myself back. I have written with other people before and come up with ideas that don’t work for Evanescence, I realize that now. There’s more to me than what’s in Evanescence.”

The tracklist is:
1. Push the Button
2. White Out
3. Remember to Breathe
4. Dark Water
5. Between Worlds
6. Drifter
7. Can’t Stop What’s Coming
8. Voice In My Head
9. Lockdown
10. After

Although I must admit that I’m not a massive fan of the first track, ‘Push The Button’, the album seems to be growing on me more and the Arabic vocals in ‘Dark Water’ sung by Malika Zarra are a unique and interesting inclusion, so different feels are given to each song and Amy has managed to portray different emotions through the instruments included and the lyrics.

‘Lockdown’ is a song which is currently very popular among Evanescence fans, with Amy’s beautiful strong voice and a brilliant chorus, being the song most like an Evanescence song.

Dave Eggar has said:

“Over the past 10 years working with Amy, I have been so impressed not only by the monumental ground breaking music she has created with Evanescence but also with her tremendous breadth in all areas of music. She is a truly one of today’s great composers and I feel in the future we will see both amazing rock music from her as well as perhaps even a symphony or opera!!”

Although it’s a shame that Evanescence, my favourite band, aren’t making music at the moment, it’s good that Amy is still making great music and says that there may be more Evanescence music in the future.

Amy recently had a baby, Jack Lion Hartzler, with her husband Josh Hartzler, so it’s understandable that she’ll want to settle down for a bit. I wish Amy all the luck in the future and am sure she’ll be a great mum!