Caught Chevelle and Three Days Grace this weekend up in Boston at the MGM Fenway. First off, this venue is awesome all around! It’s connected to Fenway park, has bars on every level (I don’t drink, but thought this was a very cool layout for those who do), has a rooftop to hang out on between sets, and accommodates approx. 5,000 people. The whole time I was daydreaming of a DT, Fate’s Warning show. I will be looking for excuses to head back to catch more shows here.
The opening band was Loathe and while the music wasn’t really my cup of tea, the band brought a ton of energy and was really fun to watch perform. Chevelle followed up with a 75 minute set, they played pretty much straight through with minimal down time to chat. Chevelle has been my wife’s favorite band for some time, this was her (and my) first time seeing them – they were impressive for a trio. Three Days Grace followed them with their co-headlining portion, also playing for 75 minutes. I loved their debut but haven’t really listened to them much in years. Their singer busted up his leg the night before so he performed the whole set seated. This was my first time seeing them as well – I kind of liked Saint Asonia better (their old singer’s new band), they play a few songs from that era of Three Days Grace.
Saw those two open for Breaking Benjamin a few years ago. I don't love either, but both are solid live. I saw that venue when I went to Fenway last year right around when it opened, looks cool. I'm sure one day I'll see a show there, love going to concerts in Boston.
So because I ended up seeing Queen last week and then I didn't go into work that Friday so I bailed on mn to see Tesseract, I opted to try to seure a good ticket for the Audacy "We Can Survive" concert on Saturday. I ended up scoring a late release 3rd row ticket at the box office for $107 flat. That was about $80 cheaper than the people in row 5 and further back
I wasn't even sure what Audacy was, apparently internet radio, so this turns out to be a radio event. Where they have a bunch of bands, well known bands, do short sets in an arena and it's hosted by the radio DJs and in this case, pop / pop rock bands. I went to a hard rock version of this at the same venue (WDHA's Rock the Rock Fest) earlier this year. I had also gone to a KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in LA 5 years ago. So I was familiar wtih the format.
The show started wtih a pop singer IZZA who I had never heard of. Apparantly she won a national contest to get the opening slot. It was her and a DJ. Music was not my thing. She played for like 20 minutes. The DJ was from Israel and had a flag he was waiving, that was probably the highlight of her set for me. She was easy on the eyes as well. Would be cool if she got famous and it could be one of those "I saw her before she was famous" things, but I'd be shocked if that happened.
Next up was David Kushner. It was at this point I realized they had the revolving stage so basically the show was going to be rapid fire with the bands. VERY cool IMO. KROQ did this and it makes for like no downtime between bands. I don't know David, but I did know his hit song. He's a young guy who had a tiktok song go viral. He's got a very powerful voice. But the music is so... sad? It just feels dark and sad and really not my thing. I got up after the first song to go grab another drink and hit up the bathroom. Got back in time to see the hit song Daylight. Even that song, its not my thing.
Kelly Clarkson was next. Who knew I was going to see two former American Idols in back to back concerts?! I thought she was great. She sounded incredible. I actually thought she sounded better than Adam Lambert although the material and set length may have been significantly easier for Kelly. She had a full backing band with 3 back up singers as well. She opened with a song I knew and they just sounded powerful live. Uplifting music too, unlike David Kushner. I shockingly very much enjoyed her set. Only problem is it was short, only 5 songs.
OneRepuplic came on next. They were very hit or miss for me. They opened so flat IMO. First song was so uninteresting. A couple songs later they played Secrets which I knew and things changed for me. I thought the singer was really talented. He played piano and guitar and was super engaging and energetic on stage as a front man. The live violin and cello were awesome. They did a medley of cover songs, apparently the singer wrote a lot of hit songs for other bands. I didn't know those songs, but that was cool since the crowd ate it up. They did their Top Gun song that was pretty cool and ended with another song I knew, Counting Stars which was a lot of fun. Before they finished, the singer sang the chorus of Maroon 5's Girls Like You which not only did he do well, got the crowd pumped for Maroon 5 next.
I've got to admit. Maroon 5 was the reason I wanted to go to this. I saw them a couple summers ago and really loved the show. They did not dissapoint. They did a 14 song set of all the hits. Crowd was loud for them. Thought they sounded great. Adam Levine was great too. His high singing was great. He had a swagger as well and a bit of an attitude that I kind of enjoyed. He basically ripped on the ways girls scream. He was trying to have a quiet moment some girls just wouldn't stop screaming
I loved his "shut up" moment. He also ripped a few guitar solos during the set to show he could play too. They were so much fun and very much worth the price of admission for me!
Also another great quality video to follow up Queen wtih! Love the Maroon 5 clips!
Audacy We Can Survive Maroon 5 OneRepublic Kelly Clarkson David Kushner LIVE Newark NJ 10/14/2023Next up:
Tonight's a reggae concert in NYC with SOJA and Hirie!
Topic: Concerts for 2023 (Read 30813 times)
