3 Doors Down and Collective Soul are inviting fans aboard The Rock & Roll Express Tour this summer with special guest Soul Asylum on select dates. Produced by Live Nation, the amphitheater outing will kick off July 6 in Atlanta, GA and travel to 36 cities across North America before wrapping September 16 in Phoenix, AZ.Our resident reporter in Minneapolis caught the show in what is also the home state of openers Soul Asylum.
Opening the show was Minnesota’s own Soul Asylum. I’m not biased towards them because they’re from Minneapolis which is where I live, I’ve always liked the band but I never completely bought in until I heard their song “Misery”. It could be one of the best rock songs ever written in my opinion, to be standing down in the pit and have them play “Misery” and then go right into “Somebody To Shove” was the highlight of the evening for me.
I have a lot of respect for Dave Pirner who has kept this band going through lineup changes all the other things that happen to a rock band, they still release albums which seems to be a rarity nowadays and needs to be applauded. It was nice to see that he has Michael Bland still playing drums with him, many of you may know him from his time playing with Prince. They were very energetic and like expected, the crowd really embraced them.
Next up was Collective Soul. I must admit I don’t know anything about this band but was surprised at how many songs of theirs I knew, unfortunately, from my point of view none of those songs grab me the way songs should. At the end of the day what I think doesn’t matter because the people that were there to see them really enjoyed them, they too were very energetic, playing hit after hit and they seemed to be a very good complement for the headliner 3 Doors Down.
I can’t say enough good things about 3 Doors Down, another band that I know absolutely nothing about but was really taken by their performance. Not only were they full of energy and worked the crowd, musically they were stellar. The musicianship of this band is extremely tight, and their singer Brad Arnold has an incredible voice. They are one of those bands that if you don’t know anything about them, you could go see them live like I did for the first time and walk away thinking they were great. I highly recommend checking out Three Doors Down if you get the opportunity.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tommy Sommers Photography
REMAINING TOUR DATES
8/03 Clearfield, PA Clearfield County Fair *
8/04 Kalamazoo, MI Wings Event Center
8/07 Sterling Heights, MI Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
8/08 Huber Heights, OH Rose Music Center At The Heights*
8/10 Gilford, NH Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
8/11 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
8/14 Brookhaven, NY The Amphitheater at Bald Hill
8/16 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun *
8/18 Niagara Falls, NY Seneca Niagara Hotel & Casino *
8/19 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa *
8/21 Baltimore, MD Pier Six Pavilion *
8/22 Greensboro, NC White Oak Amphitheatre
8/24 Nashville, TN Ascend Amphitheater
8/25 Simpsonville, SC Heritage Park Amphitheatre
9/06 Lemoore, CA Tachi Palace Casino *
9/07 Las Vegas, NV Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Report *
9/08 Funner, CA Harrah’s Resort Socal *
9/11 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium *
9/12 Salt Lake City, UT Utah State Fair *
9/14 Mescalero, NM Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino *
9/16 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre *
9/27 Cherokee, NC Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Report **
No Soul Asylum – *
The Better Live Foundation Concert – **
TICKETS: WWW.3DOORS.DOWN.COM
