THREE DAYS GRACE/ I PREVAIL/ THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT – MOHEGAN
By Kat Gullage
Three Days Grace made their fourteenth stop on a sixty-three date run. Their “Alienation Tour” included The Funeral Portrait and I Prevail and was hosted by Mohegan Sun Arena.
Emo alternative rock band, The Funeral Portrait opened the night with a high-energy set that pulled the crowd in. The five piece group hails from Atlanta, Georgia and has cultivated a devoted fanbase known as the Coffin Crew, a safe space for all stigmatized groups. Their mission statement says it best: “Our band is about standing up for weirdos and misfits. Because we are weirdos, too.”
Despite having two studio albums, their nine song set was made up entirely of tracks from Greetings From Suffocate City. Except for the opening song, which was a cover. Y’all know I’m not a fan of covers. However, I kinda liked this one, which says a lot. It was “Mad World” by Tears For Fears, although the Gary Jules version may have been their inspiration.
Frontman and lead singer Lee Jennings worked the whole stage, including the runway, and stood out with his shock of neon green hair. They launched into originals with “Generation Psycho” and “Blood Mother”. Jennings was totally in sync with bassist Robert Weston, it was fun to watch their playful chemistry. When Weston wasn’t playing guitar with his mouth.
Lead guitarist Cody Weissinger, drummer Homer Umbanhower and newcomer Gareth Calk on rhythm guitar rounded out the group. (Original rhythm guitarist Caleb Freihaut, departed the band to focus on his health on 1/11/26. This tour kicked off on 2/21/26. So, nice recovery.)
“Voodoo Doll” kept the momentum going before Jennings rallied the crowd, which was about three quarters full already, “I know you know the words this time, lemme hear it! Get those cell phones out turn on those lights!”. The response was impressive, with the rafter seats being the clear winners. The lead up was for “You’re So Ugly When You Cry”.
“So, how do we feel about getting a little alternative here tonight? We’re from Atlanta and we’ve been at it for over ten years. They told me I’m too fat to be here. Look at me now mother fuckers!” They delivered an enthusiastic rendition of “Holy Water” but I did note “do they really need that backtrack?” “Stay Weird” had a familiar feel, like a song I heard before but can’t quite put my finger on.
“Dark Thoughts” was introduced with: “Here’s a song about OCD & ADHD.” Jennings kept things fun and interactive, “If you like what you hear buy merch and then meet me in a secret place and I’ll sign it and take a selfie.” So fun, just like their online presence. Although Jennings recently had to request that people not take his photo while he’s taking a piss. They closed with “Suffocate City”.
The Funeral Portrait put on an entertaining live show, I could see them opening for several artists. Need a dose of alt meets emo? With a strong sense of identity and community? These guys gotcha covered.
Hailing from Michigan, post hardcore band I Prevail was next up. We were all grooving to their lead in song, Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz, when it ended with a Beastie Boys style twist and I Prevail immediately threw down a heavy beat and lit crowd facing spotlights.
I loved the fact that they were raw stripped down no-frills rock and roll. Except for the occasional bursts of fire. Like the ones that erupted during the opening track, “NWO”. That marked the first of five in their twelve song set off of Violent Nature. Drawing from a four album catalog, they pulled from three of them including True Power and Trauma. Nothing from 2016’s Lifelines.
The drums came in a bit too hot and overpowered the rest of the band at times, the sound wasn’t proportionate. The fans weren’t bothered by it as a frat boy huddle turned into a pit that led to them swinging each other around. The band kept the energy up with “Self-Destruction” which carried a RATM/HedPE thread in it, followed by “There’s Fear In Letting Go” which introduced dual vocals.
Frontman and lead singer Eric Vanlerberghe addressed the now packed arena. “Holy shit how the fuck we doin? We played here like seven years ago with Day To Remember. How many seen I Prevail before?” The loyals threw their hands up. “How many first time?” A smattering of arms were raised. “How many are here to see Three Days Grace and want us to hurry the fuck up?” That comment spread smiles and laughs through the crowd.
Title track “Violent Nature” was on deck. Vanlerberghe shared comedic back and forth moments with rhythm guitarist Dylan Bowman. Lead guitarist Steve Menoian, bassist Jon Eberhard and drummer Gabe Helguera round out the group.
They dialed it back a bit with “Into Hell” and rebounded with “This one is a sing a long” for “Bad Things”. A cover was next. Not Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”, which helped them rise in popularity, but Metallica’s “Sad But True”. While it didn’t outshine the original, it didn’t need to because everyone in that arena knew the words. Even attendees unfamiliar with I Prevail found themselves shouting along.
Even if some in attendance were unfamiliar with I Prevail, they found themselves jamming out with them. Loudly. In between “Rain” and “God” Eric called out a fan in the pit that had done a backflip, and urged the nearby fans to make some room for him “Open this shit up.”
A track from Trauma was next in line with “Hurricane”. The obligatory, but entertaining and just long enough, drum solo was on deck. I Prevail closed with “This song is about protecting … Just kidding it’s about burning this place to the ground!” as they launched into the aptly titled “Gasoline”.
I Prevail’s set was powerful and thunderous, complete with bursts of fire and a decent light show. The song choices showed their ability to balance the guttural growls with more melodic tones. This was my second time seeing them live and they were much more impressive this time. If you need a dose of pop-punk-metalcore, I Prevail will prevail.
It has been fun to watch Three Days Grace grow more and more popular. I’ve seen em in small rooms, mid size arenas, and on this night, at a sold out 10,000 seat space. Incredible journey, way to go guys! It has been quite the voyage and imma break it down for ya.
The group formed in Canada in 1997 with singer Adam Gontier, bassist Brad Walst, lead guitarist Barry Stock and drummer Neil Sanderson. They released four successful albums with Adam that produced multiple #1 hits and earned gold and platinum status.
There was a Christmas Chaos Concert at the Oakdale in Wallingford CT, promoted by former radio station 106.9 WCCC, on December 15, 2012. 3DG was on the bill and performed. There were murmurings of something being off after that gig. On January 9, 2013, Adam announced his abrupt departure from the band leaving fans in a state of shock. Brad hired his brother Matt Walst (singer of My Darkest Days) to fill in on vocals for 3DG and they set out on a tour with Shinedown. I know there was a 2/1/13 date on that run. Way to recover! And the band,continued on their upward trajectory.
Over time they created three studio LPs with Matt, kept the hits spinning, and toured relentlessly to an ever growing fan base. Gontier resurfaced in 2014. He and Mike Mushok (Staind guitarist) formed the band Saint Asonia without intention. They released two albums and carved out their own space. I reviewed them back in 2023.
In the middle of the Saint Asonia set, there was a Three Days Grace mini-set. I remarked it was hard to determine which band was actually performing. Also, I stated the performance was lackluster compared to the Matt version of 3DG. I saw that line up also in 2023. Matt had gotten hurt just before our show in Boston and performed while in a freaking wheel chair. Not only was he uncomfortable from his injury, but it must’ve killed him to sit still during a gig.
Saint Asonia was scheduled to play with Theory Of A Deadman on their Unplugged Tour, but jumped off for “personal matters”. Shortly thereafter, in October 2024, Adam Gontier rejoined Three Days Grace. This girl right here was not surprised. Matt Walst would stay in the band, making them a quintet. This new line up has released one album and are currently on tour, playing to large sold out crowds.
The Three Days Grace moniker was born from the term “three days grace period”. The big draw to this night’s performance, for me, was to see the dual singers perform live together. Adam Gontier on lead and backing vocals and guitar, Matt Walst on lead and backing vocals, guitar and keys, Brad Walst on bass, Barry Stock on lead guitar and Neil Sanderson on drums.
Collectively they have eight studio albums and they touched on all of them in their loaded twenty three song set. The stage lights blazed and “Here We Fucking Go” splashed on giant screens in anticipation. The crowd was on their feet when the first note of “Dominate” (Alienation) hit. Matt sported a half skeleton mask at first, but it only stayed on for like one and half minutes.
They rolled right into one of their hits with “Animal I Have Become” (One-X). Matt worked the crowd “Mohegan Sun, Get the fuck up! I wanna see everyone jumping up and down! Get those hands in the air!”. He got a “Three Days Grace!” chant from the crowd before they landed “So Called Life” (Explosions) and “Break” (Life Starts Now), which triggered the frat boy pit to start up again.
Adam spoke then, “Thank you guys so much! Thank you so much for being here! Every time we come here you guys are amazing and I know tonight will be the same. Matt said he might move here!” Matt grabbed a guitar. “Let’s go all the way back to the first album. Get those hands in the air!” The cut from their self-titled debut was “Home” and Matt flexed his chops on it.
Adam spoke and summarized the band’s journey. The entire place booed when he mentioned how he left the band. “I don’t think I’ve ever had that many people boo me all at once.” He was comforted by Matt. One of my faves, “The Mountain” (Outsider) was up and the sound quality was on point.
A “Three Days Grace!” chant erupted from the sold out venue again. Adam used the old timey mic for “Pain” (One-X) and he showed a lot of emotion during “Kill Me Fast”. The fans lost their shit for “I Hate Everything About You”, Matt commented “Holy fucking shit this crowd is on fire tonight!”.
I thought “Apologies” (Alienation) would calm the crowd a bit but lost that bet when I saw a crowd surfer get passed around. The momentum couldn’t be stopped. “OK Mohegan Sun whaddaya say we get this crowd moving. Let’s Go!” was the intro for “Time Of Dying” (One-X) which was not one of my faves of the night but the frat pit fired up again.
“Mohegan Sun, lemme hear ya make some noise!” Adam commanded. “Well, that was fine. How many hardcore Three Days Grace fans we got?” The crowd swelled with a wave of proclamation. “We grew up in a small town. Not a lot to do but sports, drugs and music. You can tell which one we concentrated on the most. On Alienation we wrote a song about living there.” The song was “Don’t Wanna Go Home
Tonight” and they brought out Cale Gontier from Saint Asonia to jam with them.
It was time for the makeshift campfire acoustic set. It started with “Lost In You” (Life Starts Now), “Chalk Outline” (Transit Of Venus) with Adam on lead vocals (one of the only 3DG songs that should always be plugged in, imo) and Matt broke out “Porn Star Dancing”, the most well known hit from My Darkest Days, they finished with a piece of The Knack’s “My Sharona”.
“Lifetime” (Explosions) had the place lit up like daylight with cell phone lights and Matt killed it. In what was referred to as “Set 2”, Adam stood on the runway alone and performed a snippet acapella of “Here Without You” by Three Doors Down.
They segued right to “Let’s get this pit going again!” It didn’t but they fed us “I Am Machine” (Human) and then got the energy revived with “Just Like You”. By the time they served up “Mayday” (Alienation), fans were jumping and the crowd surfers were being passed up front. “Shit man, this is fun!”
The fans kept on having fun with “The Good Life” (Life Starts Now). “Are you having fun with Three Days Grace so far?” We responded with a positive roar. “You people know how to party! Shit yeah! Saw more crowd surfing, open that pit up!”
Matt performed “Painkiller” (Human) with a drink in hand. I had forgotten how great that song is. The crowd started their “Three Days Grace!” chant again, this time accompanied by foot
stomping.
Adam inquired “You guys want a couple more songs?” “People have told us our music has helped them through some hard times, especially this one. Sing it with us and turn those cell lights on.” The place lit up again as the band closed with two more from One-X, “Never Too Late”, which the fans sang loud and proud and fan favorite, “Riot”.
Seeing both Adam and Matt perform together added a whole new dimension to the group. Their deep catalog of hits made for a set that was both nostalgic and refreshing. Three Days Grace ain’t surviving, they’re thriving.
Views: 0
