I’ve said this before in other reviews, but it’s appropriate to bring this up again. Anniversaries are meant to be celebrated. They are critical moments in our lives to be remembered and relished. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and even retirements. On Wednesday, September 13th in Jacksonville, FL at Daily’s Place Amphitheater, there were 2 celebrations occuring that night. First, rockers Candlebox were celebrating 30 years since the release of their debut album and also saying goodbye as this is their final tour. Headliners 3 Doors Down were celebrating 20 years (21 years in November 2023) of their sophomore album Away From The Sun on this official Away From The Sun Tour. The combination of two rock bands with such legacies and anniversaries could only be a show for the ages. And it was.
Candlebox out of Seattle, WA, formed back in 1990 and made their way onto the live scene in 1991 and signed with Maverick Records. On that fateful day, July 20, 1993, their self-titled debut album was released and it was a smashing success selling over 4 million albums. They’d follow up with albums Lucy and Happy Pills before going on hiatus for 10 years. The band came back releasing Into The Sun in 2008 and has been blazing forward ever since releasing 4 additional albums. Their most recent release The Long Goodbye released on August 25th as their final album. Now they’ve been on tour with 3 Doors Down as their last tour. Candlebox is Kevin Martin (vocals), Brian Quinn (lead guitar), Island Styles (rhythm guitar), Adam Kury (bass), and BJ Kerwin (drums).
With a packed house at Daily’s Place, the crowd roared when Candlebox came out on stage. But, there was an unexpected surprise with the band. Peter Klett, the original guitarist for Candlebox who departed in 2015 was on stage for a number of songs to perform before current guitarist Brian Quinn took over. Peter played as if he never left the band. He was smooth through his riffs and played up to the crowd who greatly appreciated the hard work. When Brian took the stage, he played just as hard. Brian is always enthusiastic and entertaining on stage and he didn’t disappoint. I only wish we had the opportunity to still photograph when Brian had taken the stage to capture his moments too. Island as always starts his performance so stoic and gears up into overdrive rocking it out. Adam too is a quiet performer, almost keeping to himself, but as the show went on, he amped it up and rocked out with the rest of the band. And damn he does a hell of a job on that bass guitar. BJ is a great drummer who plays with passion and speed, which is perfect for Candlebox songs. And of course, vocalist Kevin Martin was on the top of his game. Kevin always sings with passion, power, and is so animated on stage. And Kevin always engages the crowd to keep them involved and get them to sing with them to their songs.
Candlebox performed an hour set that night with all the songs from the self-debut album but one. They replaced “Rain” from their debut album with “What Do You Need?” from their final album The Long Goodbye. The song sounded like a question on the band’s life on what more do they need as they’re ready to walk away. I will say it was really cool to hear all of these songs from that debut album live. I truly loved hearing the story behind “He Calls Home”. Kevin explained how there was a homeless man he would see every day and got to know him. And then one day he was gone. He hoped that he found a better life and Kevin wrote that song for him. As we got to the final songs of the set, you could sense the crowd was getting emotional. When they performed “Cover Me” and “Far Behind” the whole crowd was singing every word (including me). And, as expected, they closed it out with “You” performing the hardest I’ve ever seen them.
It was a spectacular performance from Candlebox and they truly appreciated the crowd support for the final time Jacksonville, FL would get to see them. I can say, I cherish that opportunity to photograph and review them one final time. Go check out their music and merch over at https://www.candleboxrocks.com/.
And then it was onto our headliners 3 Doors Down. The rock band formed in 1996 out of Escatawpa, MS. They hit success very early on when they released their single “Kryptonite” in 2000. The band released their first album, The Better Life, the same year. They sold over 7 million copies of that album. Two years later they followed up with Away From The Sun and that album sold 8 million copies. They would go on to release 4 more albums, though their last one Us and the Night was released in 2016. And even though their last album was 7 years ago, the band does stay active touring. 3 Doors Down is Brad Arnold (vocals), Chris Henderson (guitar), Chet Roberts (guitar), Justin Biltonen (bass), Greg Upchurch (drums).
It didn’t take long for 3 Doors Down to have the crowd on their feet the moment the lights dimmed. The band were all smiles when they came onto the stage. Greg Upchurch was behind a plexiglass barrier and up on a high drum riser. He wailed away on those drums with heavy hands and kept that going through all of their songs. He was killing it on the drums that night. Justin likes to rock out when he plays bass, but looks so intense when he plays. His bass notes are solid and you clearly catch them throughout their songs. Chris knows how to jam that guitar but always stays composed when he does. He’s always to the far left isolated on stage and sometimes Brad walks over there to join him and keep him company. Chet, I feel, is the exact opposite. He plays with serious passion and you can see it through his facial expressions. Brad is always smiling, has a beautiful voice, and you can tell how much he loves being on that stage.
The band ended up playing a 17 song setlist with the 10 of them from Away From The Sun. The only song they didn’t play off that album was “Going Down in Flames”. The band mixed in a grouping of other songs to complete that setlist. They kicked off the setlist with “Pop Song” which was on the Japanese, UK, and Deluxe editions of Away From The Sun, but not on the original release. They added in “Let Me Go” which came off their third album Seventeen Days and “Let Me Go” from their 4th self-titled album. They also threw into the setlist “Be Like That”, “Duck and Run”, a song I truly love, and “Loser” from their debut album The Better Life. Getting to hear the majority of songs from Away From The Sun was truly special. There are so many great tracks from the album including “Here Without You” and “Changes”. But, I really got chills right at the beginning of their set when they played “Away from the Sun” and “The Road I’m On” back to back. Those songs have such powerful words and music behind them.
Brad said right from the opening that he didn’t plan on speaking much during the show as they wanted to play for the fans. He did thank the fans very often during the show. He did take a moment to talk about Away From The Sun. After the success of their first album, Brad said they were pulled in a variety of directions to try to replicate that success in a short amount of time. He said while they had money and fame, he always felt he had a dark hole in his heart he couldn’t fill and it was a struggle. Thankfully, Away From The Sun was a huge success and he thanked Jesus Christ for filling that dark hole with love. You could see the happiness on Brad’s face when he talked about his faith and how much it has influenced his life. The band wrapped up with an encore performing “Landing in London” from Seventeen Days and then finishing with “Kryptonite” from The Better Life.
3 Doors Down delivered a wonderful celebration to Away From The Sun that night. You can find their music and merch over at https://3doorsdown.com/.
This show should be in for one of the best tours this year. Two amazing bands delivering two spectacular performances, plus saying farewell to Candlebox. This is definitely a show I will keep close to my heart and cherish the memories from that night.
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