Bringing the fire

Day of Fire used to have Chris Daughtry's old band Absent Element open for them. Now, while he's on tour, Daughtry's nice enough to return the favor.

"Before 'American Idol' he had a band in North Carolina," said Day of Fire guitarist Joe Pangallo. "They would regularly open for us, and that was only three year ago. But Chris and our singer Josh became friends and stayed in contact ... and here we are, opening for him."

Day of Fire, consisting of Pangallo and his brother Chris (bass), Gregg Hionis (guitar), Zach Simms (drums) and the aforementioned Josh Brown (vocals), is not your garden-variety rock band. Joe Pangallo said that although it's not Christian rock (as they have been classified before), Day of Fire is music with a purpose.

"We just play rock with a message of hope and love," said Joe Pangallo. "We were on a Christian music label, but we went independent, and we're not on any label now. We are all Christians but we just play great rock music to help you forget daily troubles."

After a Grammy nomination and Dove Award in 2004 for their self-titled debut album, the band released "Cut & Move" in June. According to Brown, "Cut & Move" deals with "cutting yourself away from the failures of yesterday, leaving behind the burdens of the past, and moving into the future."

Brown joined the band shortly after leaving promising grunge act Full Devil Jacket in 2004.

Day of Fire will open for Daughtry tonight at the Show Me Center. Tickets can be purchased by calling 651-5000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

More information on Day of Fire can be found at www.dayoffire.com.