WITH melodies that alternated between Southern rock, grinding metal and emo sighs, Mississippi’s 3 Doors Down played an outstanding gig at the Meadowlands Wednesday.
While the band’s three albums all sound suspiciously similar, in concert the group mixed its set with tunes from this year’s “Seventeen Days” album and older songs that showcased unexpected diversity.
Once a trio and now fattened to a quintet, 3 Doors Down easily flipped from aggressive, unrelenting arena rockers, such as breakout singles “The Better Life” and “Kryptonite,” to introspective power ballads like “Away From The Sun.”
You want to give singer Brad Arnold all the credit because he’s up front drawing fans into the songs with aggressive, bourbon-drenched vocals and ultra-sincere, aw-shucks patter. But this, it turned out, is a real band.
The twin guitars, drums and bass seemed to be having a
conversation as they created a layered sound on everything from elastic, acoustic numbers to crashing, hard-edged rockers.
Without question, their musicianship reaped the benefits of a great sound system and a man at the mixing board who knew how to twist the knobs. Individual instrumental leads remained distinct despite the volume and every song in the 90-minute set boasted extremely clear vocals – no matter how heavy the sound.
That’s the kind of polish a band and its crew get with a road warrior work ethic playing 200 shows a year. The joint experience also cropped up in a production peppered with AC/DC-style stage pyrotechnics, MTV-come-to-life video work and interesting, though unexplained, props.
The stage looked like a huge clockwork with gears spinning. Despite this nod to automation and the notion we’re all faceless cogs, the night’s performance wasn’t mechanical, especially when Arnold tapped into emotional songs that delved into fractured relationships and alienation.
During “Behind Those Eyes,” an ode to betrayal, Arnold and company conjured a strange, yet appealing blend of Metallica’s power and Pearl Jam’s earnestness.
3 Doors Down is one of those groups that projects a bland, innocuous image in rock’s hierarchy – similar to Staind, who served at the night’s opening act. But when they’re onstage, 3 Doors Down is shockingly good, one of the most captivating bands on the rock circuit today.