Concert Review: Daughtry at the Centre

It’s difficult to see how Chris Daughtry comes from the same “American Idol” empire that produced Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Jordin Sparks when you watch him perform.

His mainstream rock sound does not blend with the pop and country artists “Idol” has been known for to produce over the past six years.

Daughtry, a Season Five contestant on the popular Fox reality show, brought his band to The Centre on Monday night for a sold out show in front of 2500 fans ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s.

Daughtry and their opener, The Sunstreak, played on a no-frills stage. There was no stage show or giant video screen to take away from the musicians and their songs. Instead, a single row of lights hung above the stage to shine light on the performers and audience at appropriate intervals.

The Sunstreak’s set included a mixture of songs from their self-titled album and other unreleased tracks in their catalog. They have a sound that mixes industrial beats with vocal harmonies and a pop-punk sound that resembles The Starting Line and Taking Back Sunday. The audience politely clapped with each performance, but not much more since the band is unknown around here.

Each song was interspersed with promotion of their MySpace page, custom ringtones and cell phone backgrounds. The music was nothing memorable and neither was their stage presence. The majority of the band stood stationary while lead guitarist Jack Flynn ran from one end of the stage to the other during more up tempo songs such as “Lives At Stake.”

After a 40-minute intermission, the curtain rose and Daughtry took the stage. The band opened with a solid and energetic performance of “Crashed” that set the mood for the rest of the evening. From there, Daughtry performed 90 minutes’ worth of true to form renditions of favorites such as “What I Want,” “Used To Be” and the self-admittedly overplayed hit “It’s Not Over.”

The band also covered Alice In Chain’s “Nutshell” and dedicated it to the band’s late singer, Layne Staley, a musical influence on Daughtry. The song was well performed, but not well received by the mixed audience. Anyone under the age of 20 or over the age of 35 didn’t know the song and used it as a mini-intermission.

The band closed the show with their mega-hit “Home” and a hybrid version of “There And Back Again” which had a hard hitting interlude of Filter’s “Hey Man. Nice Shot.”

Chris Daughtry has the stage presence of rock frontmen of old with his arrogance, swagger and look. The music is nothing groundbreaking in the rock genre, but it is a welcomed change in a town that is overwhelmed with country and aging rock concerts.

Originally published in the Evansville Courier & Press. Photo courtesy of Kelli Rhiannon.