3 Doors Down
August 26, 2014
American Bank Center at Selena Auditorium- Corpus Christi, TX
The stage had been set up prior to the doors opening, Bob Dylan was playing over the house P.A. Walking into the venue you’d see a pretty impressive backdrop with the headlining acts name on it. Made up to look like wood paneling walls with a note taped to it stating 3 Doors Down, Acoustic Songs from the Basement. On the stage you could see four couches lined up along both sides of the stage for people who purchased a special V.I.P package. There was an arrangement of lamps made from various items placed periodically around the stage. One lamp was made from a department store mannequin leg, another from bowling pins & one more was made from drumsticks & snare. There were 4 coffee tables made from old wooden shipping crates for each couch, darned with retro decorations. Placed in front of the left, center mic stand was a beautiful old timely Stand-Up bass with a sticker of Johnny Cash on the side, belonging to that of none other than Amy LaVere.
Amy LaVere, is one of the few people in the entertainment industry to successfully bridge the gap from Actress to Musician. Most notably LaVere, is known for her part as Wendy Jackson, from the movie Walk the Line, based on the life & time of legend Johnny Cash. As well as playing Jesse in the critically acclaimed hit Black Snake Moan with Samuel L. Jackson & Christina Ricci.
It is very rare when the opening act is as good as the headlining act. What makes this situation even rarer, is that the genre of the first band was significantly different than that of 3 Doors Down. Amy LaVere’s genre has been described as being Americana. “Classic Country, Gypsy Jazz mixed with Southern Soul”… Amy LaVere, began her night entering the stage left while Will Sexton entered the stage from stage right, accompanying her on this tour. Hailing from Austin, TX, singer, songwriter & producer Will Sexton, (brother of Charlie Sexton, lead guitarist for Bob Dylan’s backing band) who’s writing, producing & song writing acknowledgment(s) expanse from Waylon Jennings & Steven Stills (Crosby, Stills, Nash [and sometimes Young] ) to Steve Earl & Psychedelic-Rock Pioneer Rocky Erikson ( 13th Floor Elevators), Bill Carter, Joe Ely & punk legend Johnny Thunders.
Taking their place on the stage beside each other Amy LaVere, & Will Sexton stood before the Corpus Christi, TX crowd smiling & ready to begin their extraordinarily remarkable evening. Except for the fact the house sound was still playing lightly over the house speakers. You could hear the faint sounds of Bob Dylan’s harmonica, still playing as LeVere introduces Will Sexton & herself. Prompting her to ask the house to please turn the sound down a little more, cracking the joke “All though I love the harmonica, it’s not a part of our set, could we please turn the house music off”… After a couple seconds the house music died down & LeVere, began her set. Holding the enormous upright bass, she plucked the strings with as much heart & passion as the beautifully, witty lyrics that came flowing out from her phenomenal & unique folk style of singing & playing. Will Sexton, complimented her impassioned performance with his awe-inspiring & 
consequentially fascinating guitar playing. Amy LaVere, touched the crowd yet again with more laughter as she explained the following song Big Sister, and what it meant to her. Citing her older sister, and just giving it a name Older siblings were meant to be Assholes, and began a wistfully, yet witty song based loosely on her life with lyrics that a lot of us younger siblings could concur with… Amy LaVere & Will Sexton’s night ended as quickly as it had begun, walking off the stage, toting the upright bass with Sexton following close behind her. The crowd was left in awe-filled wonderment of what they had just seen & heard. Giving the two phenomenal musicians ovation for the rare occurrence on this night of rock-n-roll goodness…
Twenty minutes had passed before fans who had purchased special V.I.P packages took their seats on the immensely large and brightly colored davenports… The smiles upon their faces were reaching both sides of their heads ear to ear. One couple (husband & wife team), two friends, & a Mother Daughter pair were joined by the band shortly after taking their seats. The band came out one by one starting with the drummer, and ending with lead vocals Bradly Arnold. He grabbed his mic stand and began their Acoustic set with Father’s Son, the 9th track from the bands 3rd studio album Seventeen days. Light drumming, soft acoustic guitar playing and the low rumble from the bass guitar lead the song with the dynamic vocals from Brad Arnold. Their set continued with Let Me Be Myself & Be Like That before he took the time to introduce himself and the band to the Corpus Christi sized crowd of long time adoring fans from every age group. While introducing the band he elaborated that “This is not a rock concert, this is more intimate, like a band rehearsal, so please sit back & enjoy“.
The crowd cheered as he bowed after their introduction(s) was over, leading into their acoustic version of their 2005 hit & lead single Let Me Go. “Let Me Go, was originally recorded for the film Spider-Man 2 but was withheld for unknown reasons” as described by Arnold on the 26th. Brad Arnold also shared with the crowd a recent story of a situation he had on stage that he found to be a whimsical story; “A couple were sitting on these couches a few days ago while we were playing this song, and I’d seen that the male of the couple had gone down on his knees to propose to his girlfriend… I don’t think he realized the song was called Let Me Go”… Despite the song not being used for the movie, the hit single stayed steady #14 in February of 2005 on Billboard’s Hot 100 & Modern Rock Tracks charts, & hit #6 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Directly after Let Me Go, the band played their 5th & final single off their 3rd studio album Seventeen Days, Landing in London. After which 3 Doors Down did an acoustic rock-cover of Garth Brooks’s #1 hit The Dance.
T he amazing night continued right along with You Better Believe It; Pieces of Me; Away from the Sun; & Duck and Run before reaching their second single off their smash Debut album “The Better Life” with Loser. Loser spent 21 weeks in the #1 position on the Billboard’s U.S. Mainstream Rock Charts. Even acoustically the timeless classic rang familiar to the crowd as they began screaming & cheering even louder once the first few chords were struck, while striking chords with in the fan’s, invoking a slew of emotions. Every fan from each generation represented there sung along to the hit single as Arnold belted out the hit lyrics. Loser, sounded brand new, & just as good now as it did when it came out in early 2000.
Quickly following Loser, came it’s not My Fault & Kryptonite. Kryptonite, being the first single of their 2 time platinum selling debut album The Better Life, the crowd again went wild as the opening hits on the Cajon Box begun the track. In reality, Bradly Arnold never needed to sing the song, as the crowd began singing the song for him. A smile crept Across Arnold’s face as he held his mic out to the crowd allowing the crowd to hear themselves sing along to the hit single. As the song ended Brad Arnold took a bow as the band exited the stage. The crowd began cheering & chanting “ One More Song, One More Song, One More Song” & “ 3 Doors Down, 3 Doors Down, 3 Doors Down” In no time flat the band made their way back to the stage with their hands raised in the air. The crowd began cheering louder & louder! Prompting 3 Doors Down to start their 2 song Encore that included Here Without You & dedicated to the families of men & women in service they played When I’m Gone. 3 Doors Down received a standing ovation that seemed to of lasted 5 minutes. This is indeed a once of a kind must see show when it hits your city/state. DO NOT MISS THIS!
Review by: Jared Wingate
Three Doors Down
Amy LaVere
