Three Days Grace, Trapt thrive on angst at concert

It would probably be safe to wager that almost no one who was at the Show Me Center Friday night returned for Saturday night's show, except for the staff.

In a rare two-night back-to-back booking, the Show Me Center organizers had country groups Emerson Drive and Montgomery Gentry on Friday night, while the modern rock of Three Days Grace, Trapt and Nickelback shook the center on Saturday night. About 4,000 people attended, according to the center.

On the second night, teen angst was the overriding theme, with hard rock newbies Three Days Grace and Trapt belting out guitar-fueled numbers about loneliness, disappointment, anger and rebellion.

Three Days Grace took the stage first, with fans administering the classic rock 'n' roll greeting (index finger and pinkie extended).

The band quickly broke into a set that was dominated by the low-crunch of six strings in a dropped tuning, staking a claim on the heavy metal legacy of Black Sabbath.

A mosh pit almost got started early in their set, but Show Me Center security was everywhere, preventing any severe acts of rocking out. Three Days Grace finished with its radio hit "I Hate Everything About You," enticing the audience into a sing-along that paved the way for Trapt.

After a short break, Trapt took up the mantle of angry-youth spokesband, coming onstage to a massive drum-and-distortion assault. It seemed for the first few songs that Trapt would be a carbon copy of Three Days Grace: all heavy rocking with little melody.

But band members soon busted out with songs that showed their radio-friendly pop tendencies. While they never neglected the heavy distortion for more than a few minutes, they also introduced an acoustic guitar into the mix with "Stories."

That number was quickly followed with caveman-like drumming and a return to the anger-driven music that put them at the top of rock radio. Their final song, the hit "Headstrong," brought the crowd as close to moshing as they could get, with numerous fans crowd-surfing while seemingly the whole venue sang along.

While Three Days Grace and Trapt may thrive on transforming disappointment and rejection into music, it seems they may have brought a lot of joy to a near-packed house of rebellious youth Saturday night.

Nickelback went on too late to be reviewed by press time.

msanders@semissourian.com

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