Daughtry blew the roof off of the Toyota Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut with his “Adrenaline Gone Ballistic Holiday Tour” on December 13, 2024

December 15, 2024
International Concert Reviews, International Galleries
by Jody Wilk Photographer/Writer

On a cold and blustery December day, Daughtry blew on through the Toyota Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut. Sleep Theory and Devour The Day kicked off the show. The doors opened at 5:30 pm and the fans began to fill into the dome area, which for theater shows, such as tonight, acts as the concession area, as well as merch sales and an area to socialize before heading into the theater for the show. During smaller shows, the dome area has a stage set up and the entire event would happen there. The 4600-person capacity venue was packed with hardcore fans in anticipation of a killer rock show, and that’s just what they got.

Devour The Day, an American hard rock band formed in 2012, was the first to hit the stage. Led by frontman Blake Allison, they opened the set with “Respect” off of their debut album Time and Pressure. Blake’s commanding stage presence brought the fans to the pit to get a closer listen to their brand of hard rock. Within their seven-song set, they featured four songs off of their EP released in July of this year entitled Fragments of Us. The first of their new songs was “Nobody Owns Me”, a fantastic song to keep the fans banging their heads with its growling vocals, killer drum beats, and bass-heavy rhythm. Joey “Chicago” Walser brings a rockstar-like presence to the stage while pounding out the lows on his bass. Next up they played “Good Man”, another song off their first album, Time & Pressure. The fans were on their feet and rocking along to the music throughout their set.

Devour The Day Is:

Joey “Chicago” Walser – Bass, backing vocals

Blake Allison – Lead vocals, guitars

Justin Kier – Drums, percussion

Stephen Freeman – Guitars

Setlist:

1. Respect

2. Nobody Owns Me

3. Good Man

4. Worse Than Death

5. Outsider

6. The Bottom

7. Empty

Sleep Theory was second to take the stage, just after their intro tape of Mariah Carey‘s of “All I Want for Christmas is You” played. They are a 4-piece American rock band from Memphis, Tennessee. Formed in 2020 and having only one EP out and a handful of singles, they have generated a huge following since the EP, Paper Hearts, was released in 2023. They started their 10-song set with 2 songs off of the EP before playing “Paralyzed” a single released in October of this year. Cullen Moore handled the lead clean vocals with an amazing stage presence to boot. Adding a unique blend to the music was Daniel Pruitt, handeling the guitar parts, but also an amazing amount of growling vocals that filled out the low end. Some of their songs like “Gone or Staying” have a more pop-like feel to them until a short portion of growling comes in about 2/3 way through the song. “Numb” was one of my favorite songs with a great blend of genres mixed into one song with a catchy guitar riff. These guys have a handful of dates left this year and are also scheduled to play Welcome to Rockville again in 2025.

Sleep Theory is:

Cullen Moore – Lead vocals, harmonica

Daniel Pruitt – Lead guitar, screaming vocals

Paolo Vergara – Bass, co-lead vocals

Ben Pruitt – Drums

Setlist:

1. Fallout

2. Enough

3. Paralyzed

4. Static

5. Hourglass

6. Gone or Staying

7. Stuck in My Head

8. Numb

9. It’s Over

10. Another Way

Chris Daughtry has come a long way since his appearance on the fifth season of American Idol. Daughtry has won many awards with the American Music Awards, Billboard Awards, and BMI Pop awards to name a few, as well as has been nominated for four Grammys. In August of 2023, Daughtry was signed by Big Machine Label Group and began to release singles, which would ultimately become their new EP which was released September 27 of this year, Shock to The System (Part One). They kicked off their set at 9:00 pm with a song off this EP called “The Reckoning”. Chris hit the stage looking badass sporting his new full-sleeve tattoos by Roxx Blackwork Tattoo. Filling out the band were Brian Craddock on guitar, Elvio Fernandes on keyboards, and more recent additions, Marty O’Brien on Bass, formerly of Lita Ford, and Jeremy Schaffer on drums. Marty had commented on social media that it was great to be on stage performing as a headliner with a full length set this time around. Brought to us off of the Dearly Beloved album, next they played “Changes are Coming” and “World on Fire”. The band was on fire and so was the crowd, on their feet and singing along to every song. Also included in the set was a Journey song, “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”, that Chris had recorded with Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. Unfortunately, Lzzy was not present to perform it with him.

Chris then requested that all of the house lights be turned off and asked for everyone in the crowd to light the place up with their cell phone lights for him to perform an acoustic version of “Home”. He made sure the fans knew the correct lyrics to sing along, “I’m Going Home”, as he has heard so many sing it incorrectly for 18 years. It was amazing how illuminated the venue became from just the cell phone lights. He followed that up with another solo acoustic performance of “Waiting for Superman”.

After playing the title track off of Shock to the System, Chris thanked his fans in Wallingford for being so generous to listen to their new music, but now he wanted to take it back to 2006 with “It’s Not Over”. The fans were on their feet and singing along to this first post-idol hit. The entire band had an amazing stage performance which kept the fans attention from the first note played to the last. The final song of the regular set was “Over You” which Chris let us know was originally written as a breakup song, however now he uses it to overcome whatever is in his life that is keeping him from becoming what he wants to be. After introducing the band members, and a few minutes break, Daughtry came back to the stage for a 3-song encore, showcasing songs off of the current EP Shock to The System.

The Adrenaline Gone Ballistic tour has been a huge success, and you have a few more dates to catch it this month before it’s over. Chris Daughtry always brings a huge amount of passion to his shows and his band are all top-notch performers that bring their a-game to each and every show. Sleep Theory and Devour The Day gained some new fans and were a great way to open the show. Watch for Daughtry on tour next spring with Disturbed and Nothing More beginning March 29 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and running through May 17 in Las Vegas. Then it’s off to Welcome to Rockville the next day. Continuing with their busy schedule, they will be out with Creed and MammothWVH during the summer.

Daughtry is:

Chris Daughtry – Lead vocals, rhythm guitar

Josh Steely – Lead guitar, backing vocals

Brian Craddock – Rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals

Elvio Fernandes – Keyboards, piano, occasional rhythm and acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Marty O’Brien – Bass

Jeremy Schaffer – Drums, percussion