3 Doors Down

The Rave presents Pop Evil, Theory of a Deadman, and 3 Doors Down

Heading up to the Rave the weather was turning for the worse with cold temperatures and rain. I had an interview setup with the lead singer of Pop Evil, Leigh Kakaty, which you can watch our exclusive two part interview to be posted soon.

Pop Evil has always been one of those bands that shine when on stage. With five guys on stage, they each put on a performance that captures your eye.

Pop Evil is:
Leigh Kakaty – Lead Singer
Dylan Allison – Guitar
Josh Marunde – Drums
Tony Greve – Guitar
Matt DiRito – Bass

Opening up with Broken & Betrayed, off the new album, “War of Angels” has that hip-hop, bounce-bass feel with the crunching, guitar attack and killer vocals. Being the opening band sometime means less lighting for them to play under, which was the case tonight as Allison and DiRito were cast in dark shadows most of the show. This is a shame because watching DiRito’s hair flying around as he slams on his Bass is a sight to see. The set list leaned heavy on the new album with 6 out of the 8 songs being from “War of Angels.” Daisy Chain was next, followed by what was a great version of 100 In A 55 which had the crowd singing along.

Singer, Kakaty has a way with connecting with a crowd that is impressive for a band only on their 2^nd album. Coming from the Midwest, it helps when playing in Milwaukee because they get the support of the crowd knowing what it’s like living the blue collar life. Monster You Made - a great track about life on the road and the struggles it takes on a relationship. They ended the night with Last Man Stand and Hero, off their first album, which is my favorite song.

As they finished, they thanked the crowd for spending their hard earned money to come out to see them and they would be out to thank them in the room. Sure enough, even with 3 Doors Down’s show playing, I saw the guys talking with fans and rocking it out. Be sure to check them out and get there early.

Theory of a Deadman was up next in this 3 band bill. Having seen them several times this year and in the past, I am always weary when I go. Don’t get me wrong, the guys are amazing musicians and have some great songs, but every year I feel like I am seeing the same show, with the same speeches every time, so for me tonight I was like “Ok, here we go again.” To my surprise, they were very tight- sounding, lighting was amazing, and they killed it on stage BUT they did do the same speeches again.

Theory always has had a good fan base in Milwaukee and tonight proved once again to be the case. Opening with Gentleman to kick off the show, they continued with Got it Made which once again, a flip camera was used to see which side of the crowd would be the loudest. Up next they sang, All or Nothing, which is a great song, So Happy and The Bitch Came Back, off their new album, “The Truth Is.” At about this point, they took a different direction and just pretty much got into the music which was a very nice surprise and played Not Meant To Be, Low Life, and Out of My Head. They did a nice little version of Cocaine before going into one of my favorite songs, Hate My Life. The last song was Bad Girlfriend but before that, they almost broke into a little Guns & Roses’, Paradise City which sounded really cool. With the crowd all pumped up, they ripped into Bad Girlfriend that had the women in the crowd shaking their asses.

With about 30 minute set change, 3 Doors Down came on. Never having seen 3 Doors Down live, I was looking forward to tonight’s show.

With full use of the ballroom stage they cleared everything out of speakers and the drums were set on a riser all the way in the back which made it hard to get a great shot of drummer, Greg Upchruch, as he was in front of a large video screen. I like the fact they cleared the speaker off the stage and had them placed on the sides of the stage, stacked over 30 feet in the air and as loud of a show I have heard at the Rave with this setup, but also crystal clear in the vocals.

They opened up with Time of My Life of the newest album of the same name and right off the bat singer Brad Arnold was all over the stage, along with Todd Harrell on Bass. These guys are nonstop moving and at times, found Harrell right over my head as I was shooting to look down and smile at me. The lighting was some of the best I have seen this year and all the guys gave off great energy and seemed to be happy back on the road.

Matt Roberts on lead guitar and Chris Henderson on rhythm were more subdued on stage, but gave an amazing guitar sound to round out each song. With an 18 song setlist, they ripped through them in little over 1 ½ hours - playing songs from all 5 albums like, Duck and Run, The Better Life, Away from the Sun, and It’s Not Me.

One thing about 3 Doors Down is how they can put, at times, very emotional and painful lyrics into music but never come off as hard to swallow but to ease the pain of the listener who maybe going through the same problems. They dedicated the song, Citizen/Soldier to all the armed forces of the U.S. and they also played one of my favorite songs, Loser, which sounded amazing. As they played the song, Here Without You, all the couples in the crowd held onto each other tight as they sang along, at times sounded as loud as the band. They ended the night with It’s Not My Time before coming out for the encore of Kryptonite, Every Time You Go and the tear jerker, When I’m Gone.

A sign for me when I enjoy a show is when it seems to end way too soon and it’s almost a blur because your mind is trying to capture every moment to hold dear. I look forward to catching this tour again and I hope you all do the same.

All Photos Provided by Peter Lizano