On a simply beautiful spring evening, the 7,500-seat Baxter Arena was invaded by “Metalheads” from all over the mid-west. Their purpose was to celebrate the rock and roll atmosphere that would be created by metal heavyweights, Breaking Benjamin. Baxter Arena hosts several types of events from concerts to sporting. They offer an exceptional amount of food and drink services and its employees are always efficient, gracious, and supportive. The arena is in Omaha Nebraska and is positioned in the heart of Aksarben Village, which is the city’s premier entertainment and shopping community. Upon my arrival, I could already tell this was going to be an outrageous night. Fans were forming lines and like a cat on hot bricks were on edge, ready to pounce toward the front as soon as the doors opened. If you’ve ever witnessed a sonic boom, you know that you see the jet first, then hear the boom. Tonight, Daughtry would be the jet and Breaking Benjamin the boom. For the sonic boom to even occur, the jet needs fuel. Providing the propellant that would set the show in motion would be Austin, Texas’s own Catch Your Breath.
When Catch Your Breath stormed the Baxter Arena stage, the crowd immediately responded with screams and fist pumps. From the first song “Savage” to the last song “Dial Tone” and everything in between, this band made sure we were all primed for the evening. It was an absolute pleasure to see these guys live. Very few bands are blowing up as rapidly as this band is. It won’t be long before they are headlining their own major tours.
Catch Your Breath Band Members:
Josh Mowrey – Vocalist
Teddy Herrera – Guitar
Cianan Madigan – Bass
Onell Hernandez – Percussion
Catch Your Breath Set List
1. Savages
2. Criminal
3. Y.S.K.W.
4. Ricochet
5. Fade
6. 21 Gun Salute
7. Shame On Me
8. Dial Tone
I have to tell you that I’ve never been that much of a Daughtry fan, so hence, I’ve never seen them live. Now that I have, I’m very upset with myself that I didn’t see them live years ago. The band, simply put…ROCKS!! Chris Daughtry’s voice is commanding yet youthful. In my opinion, the song of the night was their cover of Journey‘s “Separate Ways”. You gotta have chops to cover anything Steve Perry sang and Chris was able to make it his own without doing anything that would disrespect the original version. A snippet of Led Zeppelin‘s “Kashmir” was interjected in the song “Crashed”. It was right after this that the band left the stage leaving Chris on his own to hit us with an acoustic version of The Deftones, “Change”. A proud papa moment occurred when Chris’s son, Noah, came on stage and during the song, “It’s Not Over” took over keyboard duties. Daughtry’s set ended with “Artificial”. This is a song off their latest album, Dearly Beloved. This latest work really showcases Chris’ vocal abilities. The fans that were in attendance can testify that Daughtry is back and even though it’s been 17 years since their first album, their future looks brighter than ever.
Daughtry Band Members:
Chris Daughtry – lead vocals
Josh Steeley – Lead guitar
Brian Craddock – rhythm and lead guitar
Elvio Fernandes – keyboards, piano
Marty O’Brien – bass guitar
Jeremy Schaffer – drums, percussion
Daughtry Set List:
1. Changes Are Coming
2. World On Fire
3. Separate Ways (Journey cover)
4. Crashed (with a snippet of Kashmire)
5. Change (In the house of flies) (Deftones cover, solo Acoustic)
6. Pieces
7. It’s Not Over (with Noah Daughtry)
8. Over You
9. Heavy Is The Crown
10. Artificial
When it comes to alternative/metal singing, Benjamin Burnley has been one of the genre’s preeminent voices since the band formed in 1999. Breaking Benjamin gave us a high-octane set jam-packed with dynamic screams and hardcore melodies. It began as soon as the curtain fell as a pre-recorded audio-only version of “Dark” played. When the band emerged, they opened with “Failure”. The 2nd line of this song is “It has only just begun”. How right they were. “Until The End”, “Red Cold River”, “Evil Angel” and “Blow Me Away” followed by “Follow”. Everything was done methodically and with fervency. The sound was faultless and the lighting was superb. There was so much to take in and everyone was hungrily grabbing all they could. Speaking of grabbing. About 15 songs in, we started to hear Huey Lewis and the News “Power of Love”. It was during this song the band began to toss merchandise to the crowd. T-shirt cannons fired their apparel ammunition left and right. Fans respectively fought for anything they could snag. The band finished with “I Will Not Bow”, “Had Enough” and crowd favorite “The Diary of Jane”. A Breaking Benjamin show is a thunderous production bursting with energy and excitement. Listen, I’m not going to sit here and tell you they brought the house down, that would be an exaggeration, but they did move the building 3 feet to the left
Breaking Benjamin Band Members:
Benjamin Burnley – lead vocals
Jasen Rauch – lead guitar
Keith Wallen – rhythm guitar
Aaron Bruch – bass, backing vocals
Shaun Foist – drums, programming
Breaking Benjamin Set List:
Audio: Dark
1. Failure
2. Until The End
3. Red Cold River
4. Evil Angel
5. Blow Me Away
6. Follow
7. Angels Fall
8. So Cold
9. Dance With The Devil
10. Crawl
11. Breathe
12. Polygamous
13. Without You
14. Dear Agony
Audio: The Power of Love (Huey Lewis)
15. I Will Not Bow
16. Had Enough
17. The Diary Of Jane
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Wasn’t good enough to be on stage as a performer, so the next best thing was to photograph the people who are. Shooting my R6’s is nearly as great as holding my Strat. Getting up close to an artist and feeding off the crowd is exhilarating. Concert photography allows me the opportunity to capture a once in a lifetime live moment and then share it socially.
