Rising promptly from the ashes of a fourth-place boot in “American Idol’s” fifth season, Chris Daughtry is hailed as the third most successful “Idol” alum behind Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.
Segueing from one-man show to ensemble, Daughtry’s band of the same name has a second best-selling album under their belt, are working on a third and are smack-dab in the middle of a successful headline arena tour.
The tour brought Daughtry to Colorado on Tuesday night and an all-but-sold-out show at Broomfield’s 1stBank Center.
View a full photo gallery of this concert.
Daughtry’s 75-minute set kept screaming fans on their feet with catalog favorites, some B-side surprises and a few celebrated covers. Daughtry flexed not only the rugged physique he’s come to be known for but also his robust voice, an impressive quality considering the band has been on tour almost non-stop for the last three years. No doubt, though, it’s the homespun, small-town appeal of their lyrics that have endeared fans to Daughtry since his “Idol” stint.
The anthemic quality of their songs make every one a sing-a-long and Daughtry stayed true to their mission of delivering the familiar heartland rock ‘n’ roll the fans eat up. The band performed notables “Life After You” “It’s Not Over” and “Over You” — the latter coming with an appeal for help from the crowd as Daughtry complained tongue-in-cheek about Colorado’s thin air. “Are you singing tonight? Good, ‘cause I can’t breathe.”
While delivering fairly straightforward renditions for most of their set, the band did break out on a few occasions and colored slightly outside the lines with “Ghost of Me” and “Crashed.” Daughtry performed a solo acoustic version of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” that simply laid there but became more interesting when the band joined him halfway through. It was also good to hear the lesser-known “What Have We Become,” from the B-sides of their latest album, “Leave this Town.”
With the noise level of the crowd reaching ear-piercing levels, Daughtry’s encore included Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” but reached the near-frenzied crowd with “Home” and Daughtry’s reminder that “This is where it all began,” referring to his “Idol” audition in Denver.
Openers Cavo and Skillet provided an eclectic mix at the front end. Post-grungers, Cavo, had an impressive 30-minute set that worked nicely with the chemistry of the show. Due to a scheduling conflict, Skillet stepped in for Lifehouse and delivered a set of jarring, head-banging raucousness that didn’t quite fit the evenings’ sounds. A Daughtry fan tweeted something to the effect of “This Skillet music is melting my face hole.” There you have it.
Overall, the show was enjoyable if not predictable. For all his amazing work over the last four years and the instrumental quality of his voice, it would be great to see Daughtry take a few more chances and dive into his performances rather than merely dip a toe. He has the support of his fans to at least give it a try.
View a full photo gallery of this concert.
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Jackie Lomibao is a Lakewood-based writer and regular contributor to Reverb.
Jennifer Cohen is a Lakewood-based freelance photographer and contributor to Reverb. Check out her website.
