Three Days Grace

July 7, 2007

Calgary Stampede

 

The 95th annual Calgary Stampede kicked off July 6th, and runs until July 15th.  The “greatest outdoor show on earth” is filled with rodeos, cowboys, dog shows, fireworks, amusement rides, exhibition centers, and of course rock ‘n’ roll. During the stampede’s ten day run various musical acts, such as Blue October, Finger 11, Hinder, Good Charlotte, Live, Sloan, and Social Code, hit the stage in front of thousands.

 

On July 7th over 123,000 people walked through the gates onto the stampede grounds, those who stayed late were in for an amazing rock show.  The Vancouver based band Marianas Trench and Norwood rockers Three Days Grace were scheduled to entertain thousands of rowdy fans.

 

Marianas Trench are making quite a name for themselves; they have toured relentlessly across Canada, their latest single is climbing the charts on the Much Music Countdown, and yet they have remained thankful to their fans, always making the time to take pictures, chat and hang out.   

 

They kicked off the set with their first single “Say Anything”. Thousands of fans, particularly high pitched screaming teenaged girls, sung along and jumped to the tunes. The band burned through tracks “September” and “Vertigo”. The upbeat second single “decided to break it” got the crowd excited, moshing ensued, and crowd surfers started to fly. Off to the side stage, stood three days Grace front man, Adam Gontier, who watched most of the bands set. 

 

The band is one of the many surfacing from the Vancouver rock scene, but what sets them apart is that fact that all four members can sing. Showcasing their talent by beautifully performing an acappella rendition of Billy Joel’s “And so it goes”.  Loud mouth front man, Josh Ramsay, demanded more applause, boasting not a lot of rock bands can pull that off.

 

The band closed with their latest single “Shake Tramp”. This song is one of the catchiest, and easiest to remember off their 2006 debut Fix me.  Ramsay pulled away from the microphone letting the loud, roaring crowd belt out the chorus.  

 

Before leaving the stage the band announced they wanted to hang out and meet every single person here. Before they could even pack up fans started to bombard the four boys. But true to their word, Marianas Trench were indeed still signing autographs hours after their performance.     

           

Three Days Grace took the stage next. They opened with the distinguishable base lines from “Animal I have become”.  The crowd was packed; people flooded the grounds, with little space to spare. People were climbing upon lamp posts, fences, and table tops to get a better view.

 

The band blazed through tracks off their self titled debut album, like “scared”, “just like you”, “wake up” and “home”. “Riot” got the crowd moving, with people pumping their fists into the air, shouting back the lyrics “let’s start a riot! A riot!” 

Adam slowed the pace down coming out alone with just an acoustic guitar covering Alice in chains “Rooster”.  The band graciously tossed a few water bottles out to the sweaty crowd, and thank you’s before leaving the stage. With chants of “Three days grace! Three days grace!” emerging, the band took the stage one more time, closing the night with their first single“I hate everything about you”.

 

After a long day, filled with mosh pits, crowd surfers, paramedics, and some rock’n’ roll, the night ended with fire works lighting up the sky.  The good thing about the stampede is its last ten days, giving fans another eight days of great music, and memories.