 |
Oh, please Lord, make it stop!
Make it stop, and I promise I won’t have single mini doughnut next year. Well, maybe just one.
Last night, Georgia’s own Christian rockers Third Day played for almost 5,000 fans at the Saddledome.
As a music critic, I was on hand to review the show.
You know, the usual stuff. Critique the band’s performance, see how they stand up to their studio recordings, tell you if they’re worth checking out.
But it turned out that was hard to do last night at the final night of Stampede —because I’ve never reviewed a church service before.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with having faith in God. In fact, a little faith is something we could all use a little more of from time to time.
But I’m sorry, when it’s done under the guise of a rock ’n’ roll concert, it’s a sin.
Third Day, playing their only Canadian date of the summer, did display the presence and tight sound of a band that’s been playing together for more than a decade, but it was by no means a sound worthy of such a stage.
Their style seemed ripped from the radio dial of Top-40 stations the world over. One minute they sound like Skynyrd, the next like Justin Timberlake, and one song even rang the Soundgarden alarms.
If Third Day spent more time finding their own niche, and less time mimicking the flavour of legends, they might stand a chance.
Opening the show was Starfield, a bunch of kids who looked as if they had been kicked out of the Carter (Nick and Aaron) household for being too trendy.
Their show was moving — karaoke style lyrics on the big screen so everyone could sing along, but their music was slow, tired and very sloppy.
Though the sight of everyone in the ’Dome — except me — holding hands was something I’m glad I witnessed, it wasn’t enough.
There are definitely worse things kids could be doing on a Sunday night in Calgary, but if I wanted to go to church, I would have gone to church.