Three Days Grace takes The High Road and silences critics in Indianapolis

There’s no doubt Three Days Grace have been the target of a lot of criticism as of late. With their founding frontman Adam Gontier abruptly leaving the band earlier this year just weeks before the band embarked on a co-headlining tour with Shinedown to support their latest record, Transit of Venus , the band quickly brought in Matt Walst from My Darkest Days to fill the void.

Any time a band on the level of Three Days Grace changes frontmen, fans and critics alike will become very critical, judgmental and often times not give that band a chance. With Three Days Grace, the case was just that- with fans complaining about Walst’s vocal style, performances and more, Three Days Grace  kept chugging along and didn’t take no for an answer.

Playing some of the biggest festivals on the circuit this year, the band have continued to try and sway people’s opinions of the lineup change and their tenacity has been astounding. Their current tour sees them headlining with support from impressive Las Vegas-based up-and-comers Otherwise, who are one of the most promising new bands out there.

With the tour just underway, the Transit of Venus Tour hit Indianapolis’ Egyptian Room at Old National Center on the second night, just coming off what has been described as a kickass show at Pieres in Fort Wayne, Ind. the night before.

Otherwise opened the show, as always, with one of the most up-tempo and energetic sets you’ll find; their stage presence is immaculate and their thankfulness to the fans is hard to be matched.

Their debut, True Love Never Dies, has been out for just over a year and shows some of the most heart-felt and personal songs you’ll find any band write and perform and fans have embraced the band pretty quickly.

Their third single, “Die for You,” has been the opener for their set for awhile now and is the perfect way to get fans into the show.  Bassist Vassilios Metropoulos is by far one of the most charismatic bassists in the game today and frontman Adrian Patrick’s passion shows through every word he sings.

It’s been said by many veteran bands who are nearing the ends of their career that there’s not many bands who can carry rock into the future. If there’s any band out there who has the potential, momentum, passion, drive and hunger to do this, its Otherwise- hands down.

After the Vegas rockers finished their set, it was time for Three Days Grace to prove to the world they “still got it.” A lot of diehard fans didn’t know what to expect and some didn’t expect a lot- the reviews of the current lineup hadn’t been great up to this point.

They hit the stage with “Chalk Outline,” which was an instant fan favorite from Transit of Venus and any critics and naysayers were quickly silenced. Walst sounded very similar to Gontier did and the band sounded just as good as ever.

Sure, there have been some bad shows so far- but that’s with any band- and sure, there were some weak moments in their set- but that’s gonna happen, few bands operate with no mishaps.

They played everything you would expect to hear- and that does mean everything. Any hit or fan favorite they’ve had over their four-album career was in the setlist so everyone was happy and the band took time to thank the fans for sticking by them over the course of this year, citing they knew that it was just as hard for the fans as it was for the band.

They took the opportunity to mention that some people try to drag their name through the mud but they choose to take the high road as a chance to lead into “The High Road,” from Transit of Venus.

Their light show was impressive, their interaction with the crowd was impressive and they sounded about as close as they could to when Gontier was at the helm, though they did have a few sound problems- mainly with guitar but they bounced back quickly and bounced back well.

Even with the downsides of their set, what determines a good set is if the good outweighs the bad and the positives far outdid the negatives. If Walst stays with the band of if they can find a new singer with a similar vocal sound, the band’s future looks bright.

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