Three Days Grace headlines diverse springfest

For me, the University at Buffalo’s Springfest 2010 was literally a last-minute audible.

I awoke the morning of the show and decided that six hours of listening to one of the most anomalous lineups in recent memory would be an inspired way to spend my Saturday night.

I mean, can anyone really argue with a $35 ticket price for an event that could have easily been held in a 20,000-seat arena for twice as much? I didn’t think so.

The fact that the headliner was Canadian alt-rock group Three Days Grace didn’t hurt either so, even if the other acts turned out to be complete rubbish, the evening would’ve still been deemed a success.

Los Angeles-based folk trio Lady Danville took the stage first and offered the crowd a collection of modest, uplifting “road” tunes that screamed of what writer David St. John would call a “West Coast sensibility” of freedom and permission. Imagine that you’re driving on a serene summer day with the windows ajar listening to Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” and you’ll get idea of the laid-back groove I’m talking about.

Guitarist Daniel Chang displayed intricate finger-picking and the vocal harmonies were sublime, but I feel the music’s charm may have been lost on those expecting a hardcore rock show.

Luckily (or not), Florida’s own Anberlin was around to quench their thirst for frantically uneven pop-rock that doesn’t assert itself as being anything special.

Lead vocalist Stephen Christian sings at a pitch reserved for the helium-induced wailing of every emo band this side of Panic! At the Disco, but does so over riffs more suited for grunge than whatever category they happen to fall into. Odd stuff indeed, but it was certainly a spirited effort and no one can take that away from them.

Then it was onto N.E.R.D, a Pharrell Williams-led rap-funk outfit that made up for in funkadelic pizzazz what they lacked in lyrical poignancy.

Williams himself announced this portion of the evening to be “a celebration of the beautiful female” and later cemented that notion by bringing female audience members up on stage for a little Pharrell-style dance off.

The band played an inspired fusion of rock, rap and funk carried by dual drummers who were the real stars of the show, but I can’t say that I’d rush out to buy the record.

Three Days Grace took the stage to what felt like an empty arena and proceeded to play an explosive ninety minutes of alt-rock that didn’t miss a beat in terms of loyalty to the recorded material.

“Break,” “The Good Life” and “Pain” set the mood while lighter tunes like “Last to Know” and Phil Collins’s “In the Air Tonight” brought the emotional depth vocalist Adam Gontier is so skilled at divulging.  They put on a sizable arena show with pyrotechnics and all for an audience of which less than half appeared to be familiar with the band’s work so, for that, I applaud them.