American Idol Legend Daughtry Rocks the Arena

Daughtry fans from everywhere from LaVale to Virginia gathered in front of the doors of the Cordts PE Center on Saturday night. With one thing on their mind, the crowd waited anxiously at the entrance of the main arena to get to their seats.

No introduction was needed for the opening act of the Daughtry concert- Honor by August. The group, returning performers from last year, strode onto the stage with nothing but enthusiasm. Singer Michael Pearsall greeted the crowd with a wide smile and expressed his excitement at being back on the Frostburg stage. At their previous performance, they were advocates of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, and made sure to let the audience know about the foundation’s incredible work. Following the second song on set, “Already Yours,” Pearsall introduced his fellow band members — lead guitarist Evan Field, bass player Chris Rafetto and drummer Brian Shanely — which was then followed by a solid guitar solo from Field. Praising Daughtry between songs, Honor by August performed selections from a variety of their albums, such as “Last Chance” from the album Monuments to Progress and “Better” from Overlooking Virginia. Even before the last song was finished, the crowd went wild in a standing ovation. Following the set, audience members went wild and rushed the merch stands to buy the band’s album during the break between bands.

Anxiously searching for their seats once more, spectators held onto the edge of their chairs as the lights dimmed, signaling the start of the Daughtry performance. The bass echoed through the hall as phones were whipped out to snag a picture of the famed American Idol singer, Chris Daughtry. With no hesitation, Daughtry walked onto stage and broke out into “Baptized,” from the most recent album Baptized, followed by “Feels Like Tonight” from the album Daughtry. After two songs of jamming on the tambourine, he addressed his loving fans with humor and open arms, as he grabbed his guitar and began the song “Crawling Back to You.” In each rock and roll melody, Daughtry dove deep to bring out the full throttle of his voice, once again wowing the world as he first did in American Idol. Guitarists Josh Steeley and Brian Craddock and pianist Elvio Fernandes were nothing but talented entertainers on stage, cracking jokes with fans just as Daughtry was. Surprising everyone with a performance of a Phil Collins song, Daughtry sang his own contemporary and rocked out version of “In The Air Tonight,” dropping jaws in awe.

During Daughtry’s debut tour in 2006, the group decided to write a country song. Their one and only country song, “Tennessee Line,” with the added vocals of  Vince Gill, was also presented to the captivated Daughtry fans. With no doubt, jaws continued to drop at the incredibly talented singer and musician. Playing around with the audience, Daughtry began with the intro tune of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” but as fans screamed with excitement, he soon stopped the riff to discuss how gifted Journey is as a band.

After selections from all albums, singer Daughtry stopped to tell the story behind the noted song “Home.” After being eliminated from American Idol in season 5, Daughtry was approached by at least four different record labels, but only one approached him with the request of bringing his guitar with him. Performing a song that was written before being on American Idol’s stage, he inspired the record label of 19 Recordings, and later was approached by American Idol to adopt the newly-recorded “Home.” After informing the audience of the story behind this admired tune, Daughtry sang his heart out to the mass of silhouetted people in front of him.

As singer Daughtry casually slipped off stage, the packed arena began banging on benches and stomping the ground, demanding one more hoorah. As the Superman theme song played, Daughtry strode back onto the stage for the final song of the night, “Talking to Angels.”