Concert Review: On a Night Like This at The Prudential Center with Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin W/ Special guest Return to Dust

Wednesday, September 10, my Spotify was all about Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace the whole day. From working out to doing laundry and groceries, I was off from work that day. That is my routine when I’m covering a concert: just that band on my Spotify until I arrive at the venue.

Return to Dust opened the night. I don’t really know the band, but I think they sounded good. What’s weird is we were advised that we were only allowed to shoot the band from the left side of the stage, and it was a big rise from above that I could barely photograph their shoes. In my opinion, this band has a bright future.

Second to perform was the set I had been waiting for: THREE DAYS GRACE. In 2003, I first heard "I Hate Everything About You" from their debut album. I remember I was driving to my grandma’s place when this station called NU 107 played it for the very first time, and the song got to me. That song was related to my first relationship back in college, with my first girlfriend. To make a long story short, I hate the person because of what she did, but deep inside, I’m still in love, and I had to cut her off.

I’m back from my story; They opened the stage with "Animal I Have Become" from their second album, ONE-X. The lighting from the venue was perfect; my ISO was at 200-400, and this was the second time I had covered a concert in an arena. House rules: three songs from the pit, no flash as always. Then they played "So-Called Life," "Break," and then we were escorted back to the backstage where we could leave our stuff if we were going to watch the band’s set, which I did. I had to enjoy that moment where it was supposed to be. I had a ticket with assigned seats, but NO, I had to be in the pit, enjoying mosh pits, standing, jumping, and crowd surfing. But I had to take crowd shots first before heading to the pit, so I used my phone because we weren’t allowed to bring our cameras after the three songs. I got some decent shots from the crowd, from the top of the venue to the floor, and that’s when I decided to go to the pit. As soon as I got myself into the pit, they played "Kill Me Fast" from their new album, ALIENATION. That song got to me, again, when it came out. If you’re in a situation we’re you are only an option, give that a listen; you’ll understand why it got to me. Then right after that, they played "I Hate Everything About You," and I sang from start to finish with feeling. OMG. The next song was "Apologies," another song that I had a lot of experiences with that I could relate to my recently ended relationship, especially with their second-to-last song, "Never Too Late." Anyway, dude, Adam played solo from "Rooster" by Alice in Chains, and I completely lost it. I was so caught up in the moment, thinking, “Do I take photos or video, or just enjoy the moment?” Because the spotlight was just for Adam. I even lost my voice from singing.

Overall, my total experience with Three Days Grace's live performance was TOP NOTCH. After 22 years, I finally crossed off seeing them live, and with Adam Gontier back on stage since his departure in 2013. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect! Matt Walst was amazing too for bringing everyone together and keeping the energy alive from the pit to the seats. What a night to remember!

Next up was Breaking Benjamin. They opened with "Awaken," which I think was a great opener. The song is really high energy and put the crowd in the mood for what was to come. It was their latest single that came out in October of last year, and that was when my father passed away. Ben showed a lot of love and appreciation to the fans/crowd. He actually stated, “I love you guys,” and expressed his gratitude for the fans and for still being on stage after 20 years, playing to a large arena. He mentioned a few times how it had been 20 years since their first album came out. I am an empathetic person and could tell the love and energy he was giving to the fans was genuine, and the crowd responded with more love, which made the experience awesome and full of positive energy.

I knew their set was going to be over soon when Ben stated that he was getting old and could hardly get out of bed because of his shoulder from side sleeping. He introduced the band members and their new drummer, James, all the way from the UK. He also mentioned that after 20 years, they finally got back to touring with Three Days Grace since they toured together back in 2006-2007. And then right after all that Ben had to say, they played "Breath" from their third album, PHOBIA, released in 2006. I remember this song; I was at the gym, working out as usual since I'm a fitness freak. The gym attendant turned the volume up, and I heard part of the lyrics: "You take the breath right out of me, You left a hole where my heart should be, You got to fight just to make it through, This will be all over soon (this will be all over soon) Pour the salt into the open wound. Is it over yet?" …And that hit me hard again. I thought I was over my first relationship, but I still wasn’t. But you know what? After decades of struggles, from my trust issues to overthinking situations every time I'm in a relationship, I finally said what I needed to say to her, and that was just last month.

Moments like this, when you’re at a concert with a band you grew up listening to and have a history with their songs, you have to enjoy it. So I was back in the pit the whole time after leaving my gear backstage, with all the fans crowd surfing, jumping, and moshing, and I was kind of drunk. I had a total of five beers; the first three cans were during Three Days Grace's performance, and I was a bit tipsy photographing Breaking Benjamin's set.

My overall experience? It was great. On a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 10. BB is one of my favorite bands, and it was great seeing them live for the first time. I am looking forward to seeing them again.