Three Days Grace delivers rockstar performance in Penticton

To say that Three Days Grace stormed the South Okanagan Events Centre last night is understating things a bit. They may have formed a couple of decades ago, but the Canadian rockers with the huge worldwide following continue to play live shows with the urgency and downright ferocity of a newly launched band with something to prove.

Are they hard rock? Alt-industrial? Post-grunge? Who knows. Classifications aren't easy in a time when sub-genres are blending together so easily, but suffice to say that Three Days Grace blends a lot of distortion and a generous helping of drop tunings with some genuinely melodic components to create a kind of "hum along" metal.

Like other groups with a similar sound, Three Days Grace gets it fair share of hate. The metal freaks say it's not metal enough, and rock fans find it too sledgehammer. Call it the Nickelback curse.

But don't tell any of that to the crowd Saturday night. They're part of the band's humungous global fan base, and they were clearly amped to get this up close and personal with their idols. The cheered, they screamed, and they flashed a whole ton of Ronnie James Dio-inspired devil horns.

Much to its credit, the boys in the band were just as amped. This was no throw-away show, and nowhere was that more evident than in lead singer Matt Walst. The guy rampaged across the stage like a man possessed, tossing his ragged mop of hair this way and that, making appropriately maniac eyes when lost in a lyric, and flailing his arms about like a berserk windmill. And, the guy can sing.

Arguably at his best when venturing onto one of the many subwoofer cabinets/stage extenders that brought him so much closer to the audience, Walst was clearly in his element when perched just above the outstretched arms of his fans.

Meanwhile, back on stage guitarist Barry Stock wailed on his mean-sounding Ibanez, smiling frequently and looking like a much sweeter guy than his scraggly beard and beat-down attire might suggest.

Stage left, bassist Brad Walst smacked his Music Man bass like he was angry with it. A lot of bassists tend to get lost in the shadow of their singing and guitar-playing peers, but not this guy.

In just a few weeks, Three Days Grace will headline major venues such as The Forum in Los Angeles and New York's Madison Square Garden. But for this one night, we had them right here in Penticton, still at the top of their game. And a lot of people found that very cool indeed.