GOOD OLE BOY ROCKSTARS

I didn’t know anything about Three Doors Down before going to their concert last night at the Borgata in Atlantic City. They played an acoustic concert in the small 1,300 seat Music Box venue. The concept was the concert being played in your basement. There were four couches on stage and fans were selected to watch the concert while sitting on the couches surrounding the band.

Brad Arnold is their lead singer. He might be the most self effacing, nicest, appreciative rock star to ever step on a stage. He’s a good ole boy from Escatawpa, Mississippi. He’s got a deep southern drawl. He must have thanked the crowd 50 times during the 2 hour concert. Brad and the band were dressed in jeans and t-shirts like they were sitting around their house in Mississippi.

He joked with his band mates and told stories throughout the concert, like we were in his basement. He talked about loving NASCAR and the New Orleans Saints. The Philly crowd booed, but he explained he loved them when they were 1 – 15, so he deserves some success now. Becoming a rock star and multimillionaire hasn’t changed him. He still acts like an unassuming small town dude. He told the crowd how and why he wrote many of the songs before he performed them. He described one song that was written while he drove a tractor. They hit it big when he was 20 years old, with Kyrptonite. He was driving a farm tractor ten hours per day at the time, and the way he described it, enjoyed the quiet solitude of the job. He still lives in Jackson, Mississippi.

After the rousing encore, which included a cover of Metallica, Brad stayed on stage for 20 minutes shaking hands with fans, getting pictures taken, and thoroughly enjoying and appreciating his fans. You can see from this video taken by Avalon how much the band and the crowd enjoyed each other. It’s a little jumpy because Avalon was getting dancey. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.