Review: Former idol Daughtry gets Cape's vote

Chris Daughtry seems to have settled into this rock star gig with ease.

But after weathering a season of "American Idol" and taking his five-piece Daughtry on the road for a year, a guy probably gets used to pleasing the crowd.

Thursday night Daughtry brought the band that's named for him to the Show Me Center, flexing the strong vocal chops that made him the "American Idol" resident rocker and putting on a strong show for a large crowd of adoring fans, many of them females with a penchant for screaming "We love you, Chris." The band played before 3,712 people.

Two openers warmed up the crowd -- the Nashville, Tenn., hard rock four-piece Day of Fire and the Los Angeles melodic rock outfit You Are I Am.

Day of Fire seemed to impress the crowd with its high-octane sound that includes strong hints of hard rockers Stone Temple Pilots. Frontman Josh Brown, formerly of once up-and-coming band Full Devil Jacket, stomped around the stage with true rock-star swagger. He howled, he sprayed water on the crowd, he told the people to sing along.

While Brown's prodding didn't get the crowd totally engaged in Day of Fire's music, the band received a warm round of applause at the end of its set.

You Are I Am didn't fare as well. With a sound reminiscent of British melody bands like Coldplay and Muse, the band's set was far more subdued than Day of Fire's. Some points in You Are I Am's set saw the crowd waving cell phone lights in the air. But for the most part, the energy was flat, and the end of its set was met with relative silence.

But when Daughtry took the stage, the Show Me Center erupted. His band came out first, building up the anticipation. When the man Daughtry took the stage, the crowd roared.

The band blazed through hard-rocking, post-grunge anthems like "Crashed" and "Used To," employing heavy distortion and feedback squeals for a heavy sound. Daughtry posed like a true rock star, squeezing every ounce of emotion out of every note of the hits off his triple platinum debut "Daughtry."

Chris Daughtry had the crowd in the palm of his hand, easily getting them to sing along to every word of his super hit "It's Not Over." On each song, the former "Idol" contestant displayed the strong vocals that got him where he is -- a bona fide hitmaker whose songs can be heard on Top 40 and rock stations at any point of the day.

But Daughtry also showed his soft side, picking up an acoustic guitar and going solo in the middle of the set, driving his female fans even wilder.

Each song, whether hard-rocking and angry or gentle and reflective, was well executed by Daughtry and his four bandmates. Daughtry's music straddles the line between pop and rock, and at Thursday night's concert the band seemed to please an audience looking for both.

The sound was polished, and Daughtry showed why his career continues to rise following his "Idol" days, while other former contestants are more quickly forgotten.

msanders@semissourian.com

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