Neverset / Seether / Breaking Benjamin / Three Days Grace

March 30th, 2008
Erie Civic Center (Erie, PA)

The concert was great!

It was my first concert without my dad, so it was a bit of a different experience for me. I had a blast though.

Though I didn't know a whole lot about the bands other than I liked some songs, I have to say, I was incredibly impressed!  They put on an amazing show!!

Here's how it worked out:

We got there around 6 when the doors first opened, and I took Devon and Cassy on a mini-tour of the Erie Civic Center since neither of them had ever been.

Then we went to check out the concert shirts.  There were a couple I liked, but finally settled on a red Three Days Grace one.

Then we set off to find our seats.  Not the greatest seats in the place, almost near the back, but you really can't have bad seats there.  There were only about 7,000 people there. It really isn't a big venue.
Even in the back you're close enough to still clearly be able to see the faces of the people on stage.

The concert started on time at 7, with the opening act Neverset... never heard of them, but they were really good.  They're some band out of Dallas.

They did a few covers like High Way to Hell and others I can't remember, but mostly did their own songs. I really enjoyed "Falling Away" and "Without Me".

There songs were pretty good, but their performance was amazing!  Infact, though the main three bands were really good performers, I think the opening act was the best by far of all of them, performance wise atleast.
They were really playing to the audience, and their energy was just contagious.

Or atleast I thought so. Sadly, until half way through the opening act, I thought the people around me were going to be boring.  It was still fairly empty even though the venue was sold out, and those there weren't really getting into the swing of things.
Then the seats in front of us filled with some fun people, and three guys moved in the empty seats next to me.  And not only were they cute, but they knew how to have a good time and enjoy the show.

So, after the thirty minute set of Neverset, there was a break to switch the stage.  Didn't take as long as I thought it would.  Infact, all the set changes only took about 15 minutes.

But during that time, Devon attempted to make conversation with the guy next to me.  Didn't work out so well.  The guy right next to me kept ignoring her, and she seemed a little upset. I had to reassure her that she wasn't crazy, but some people just don't like talking to strangers.
But the other two were entertaining and kept atleast me amused through the entire show as they jumped around and really set the mood for the entire section around us.... even leading us in a swaying session during Three Days Grace...

Anyways, Seether was up second, and they were great during their 40 minute set.  Really lively and got the entire place reved up.  A couple of the songs, I didn't know, but most of them I knew like "Finding Beauty in Negative Space.", "Fake It," and current hit "Rise Above This", and a few others I now can't remember.

They also saluted Three Days Grace by using "(I Hate) Everything About You" as an intro for their song "Remedy."

Then they brought out Three Days Grace's Adam Gontier and Barry Stock to join them on "Broken".

But after their 45 minute set, Devon and I headed outside to the outer edge of the place (Not sure what that'd be called) and over to the other side where Neverset was signing autographs.  So, Devon and I got all their autographs, and got to talk to the 5 members a little bit and joke around, plus learned they'll be going on tour with Sevendust and Saliva next.

They were really nice and seemed to enjoy spending time with the fans. They were even out on the floor during the sets and watching the other bands perform with the rest of the crowd. Plus in between the sets they were down talking to more fans and signing more autographs and taking pictures. After they finished their set, I don't think they were backstage very long if at all. They seemed to be more wondering around the place and enjoying themselves.

(My autographs)

(Devon got her ticket signed)

Anyways, we made it back to Cassy and her mom and friend just a few minutes before Breaking Benjamin came on.

They did a nice hour set that was a lot of fun.  They were the band out of the three that I knew the least about, but I still knew a good deal of their songs.

And even though the lead singer claimed to be sick, you never would have known it the way he was performing.

They did an hour set of songs like "Dairies of Jane", "Broken", "Polyamorous", "So Cold", and many others.

They also did some covers.  I remember they did a Metalica song from the Master of Puppets album, but I can't remember which song.  And that was followed by Back in Black.  Not sure what after that.

They then invited Seether singer Shaun Morgan and Stock for a song
And during that song, the BB lead singer jumped off stage and was on the floor with security talking with the fans and stuff for a bit.

They did a few more songs, then ended their set.

After another 15 minutes or so, with Devon still trying to talk to the guy next to me, Three Days Grace came on.  Even though we had been there for four hours(3 hours of it was the actual concert) and we were starting to get a bit tired, as soon as they hit the stage that was all forgotten. The place just exploded!

To say they put on a good show would be an understatement!  A bit more crowd interaction from them, and of course bigger effects (Since they are the headliners) with more fireworks and pyros.  Which, the fire was so hot, even in the back you could just feel the heat resonating off it.

They did songs like "Pain", "Never Too Late", "I Hate Everything About You", "Animal I Have Become", and so many other good ones.

They also slowed it down in the middle and did an accoustic version of Alice in Chains' "Rooster"

They played a bit over an hour, but we headed out about half way through the very last song.  This was for a variety of reasons. 
Cassy was reallY feeling sick through about half the show, her mom was nearing a migrane, Devon looked ready to die, and about three minutes prior to that I had realized that even though I was jumping around and surrounded by people, I had stopped sweating, and my time at faire taught me that I was headed towards dehydration. 

So, I left to find water, and then we headed out of there just as the last song was finishing up and the band was saying their goodbyes.  I could hear their final words as we walked out the door. So, we really didn't miss hearing the end, just seeing it, but did manage to beat the crowd.

Overall, it was a blast, and I had a really good time.

And amazingly, I didn't have any trouble getting up for school or functioning through out the day. A bit of a stiff neck from headbanging, and a slightly scratchy throat early in the morning, but well worth it all!