Concert Review
Rock & Roll Express Tour
Collective Soul
3 Doors Down
Clearfield County Fairgrounds
Clearfield, PA
Friday August 3, 2018
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto
One of this summer’s low-key but successful tours found its way to the Clearfield County Fairgrounds Friday evening. The Rock & Roll Express tour featuring 3 Doors Down and Collective Soul is now going full tilt as they trek their way throughout the United States. Unfortunately, this was one of the few dates where Soul Asylum was not on the bill.
3 Doors Down were formed in 1996 and released their first of six studio albums in 2000. Singer Brad Arnold has been there from the start and guitarist Chris Henderson also joined before the band recorded their first album The Better Life. Rounding out the band on stage Friday evening were drummer Greg Upchurch, lead guitarist Chet Roberts and bassist Justin Biltonen.
The band took to stage and proceeded to play a good mix of songs from all of their studio albums. Starting off with “Duck and Run” and mixing in gems such as, “It’s Not My Time” and “Let Me Go” that not only displayed the band’s playing but showed how close to the record they sound even in a live setting.
The band are good friends of Charlie Daniels as Arnold explained as they tore into a blistering cover of “In America”.
The band closed out the main set with “Kryptonite” the song that kick-started their careers and they haven’t looked back since. Back for an encore that included a pair of songs from Away From The Sun with “Here Without You” and “When I’m Gone” left the crowd feeling very satisfied.
One thing you can say about 3 Doors Down is they are an honest band that cares for their fans and believes in doing things close to the vest. How can anyone not like these guys?
Opening the show was Collective Soul who started the evening off with an extremely fast-paced 75 minute-set that seemed to be over as quickly as it began. The set not only featured many of the bands classic hits but also included new songs such as “Right as Rain” and “Observation of Thought” both which went over really well with one of the bigger crowds the grandstand has seen over the years.
The band opened with a pair of new songs which will be on their forthcoming album in the near future. It wasn’t until the third song in, that the very familiar chords to “Shine” resonated through the grandstand and drew a huge ovation as singer Ed Roland was behind the piano for most of the song.
From there they went right into arguably one of the bands best songs in “Why Part 2.” “The first thing you lose is your memory”, Roland stated as the band had a minor glitch skipping over “Heavy”. To rectify the band just switched the two songs around for the night.
Joining Roland was his younger brother Dean Roland on guitar, as well as lead guitarist Jesse Triplett, drummer Johnny Rabb and longtime member Will Turpin on bass. As Dean Roland mentioned to us in an exclusive interview recently “we’ve really found our stride with Johnny Rabb playing drums, Jesse Triplett on lead guitar, and those guys have been with us for several years. The chemistry in the band, honestly, has never been better, on a personal level and musical, so we’re just enjoying it. It really shows in the energy up on the stage”. The band sounds better each time I seen them.
It was a celebration for Ed Roland as he announced to the Clearfield crowd that today was his birthday. As the crowd started to sing Happy Birthday, Roland told the crowd how the band got him a cake and he made a wish. “I know that you’re not supposed to tell what you wish but I’m going to tell you what it was, that we all Gel” A nice little segue into one of the band’s biggest songs. The band ended with what has become two of their most loved songs among many of the diehards in “Where the River Flows” and “Run”.
Collective Soul are one of those bands that seem to be getting better with age. Not only do they seem on top of their game right now, they are really having fun as a band. That is a great thing to see after some of the things that happened along the way. Now gentlemen perhaps next tour we can work in some songs from Afterwards and Rabbit albums? Please?
3 Doors Down
Collective Soul
Set Lists
3 Doors Down
Duck and Run
Time of My Life
It’s Not My Time
Away From the Sun
Let Me Go
Going Down in Flames
The Road I’m On
Be Like That
Citizen Soldier
Still Alive
In America (Charlie Daniels Band Cover)
Behind Those Eyes
My Way
Loser
Kryptonite
Encore
Here Without You
When I’m Gone
Collective Soul
Now’s the Time
Over Me
Shine
Why, Pt. 2
Heavy
Better Now
Precious Declaration
December
Right as Rain
Observation of Thought
The World I Know
Gel
Where the River Flows
Run
For more on 3 Doors Down visit http://www.3doorsdown.com
For more on Collective Soul visit www.collectivesoul.com
