As part of their Break the Spell tour, the alternative/grunge rock band, Daughtry, will hold a concert in the Multipurpose Activity Center (MAC) on Friday, April 20 at 7:30 pm. Special guests include the American pop/rock band, Safetysuit, and rhythm/blues artist, Mike Sanchez.
The concert will be produced by Concerts East, Inc. and AEG Live.
Daughtry is an American rock band from North Carolina, created and fronted by “American Idol” Season Five finalist, Chris Daughtry.
Mary Anne Nagy, Vice President for Student and Community Services at the university, helped arrange Daughtry to perform at the MAC. “The University works with a concert promoter, Concerts East Inc. and AEG Live to get shows in the MAC,” Nagy said. “We were contacted some time ago by them to see if we were interested in Daughtry and obviously we were.”
According to musicstop.org, Daughtry declined an offer by Fuel to be the rock band’s lead singer, and “on July 10, 2006, it was announced that he had signed with 19 Entertainment and RCA Records” to form his self-titled band.
The original band consisted of Jeremy Brady (guitarist), Josh Steely (lead guitarist), Josh Paul (bassist), and Joey Barnes (drummer).
The current band members still consists of Daughtry, Steely, and Paul, but Brian Craddock has joined the band as a guitarist, and Robin Diaz replaced Barnes as the drummer, musicstop.org continued to report.
As for the decision to name the band, Daughtry said, via artistfacts.com, “We could have come out with a really obscure name, but coming from a TV show and having name recognition, it was easier just to go with my last name.”
Daughtry was released in 2006, and according to billboard.com, it reached number one the week of February 7, 2007. Some notable radio hits off the album included “It’s Not Over” and “Home.”
The site also mentioned that Daughtry was named the number one selling album of 2007.
In 2009, the band released their second album, Leave This Town and billboard.com reported that it reached number one on the Billboard 200. The site continued to mention that this album became number one on both the Digital Albums Chart and the Rock Chart.
Recently, Daughty released their third album, Break the Spell.
According to “Idol Chatter” on usatoday.com (via Nielsen SoundScan), “Daughtry’s third album, Break the Spell, debuted at No. 8 with 129,000 sales…”
Brielle Sneed, a senior, was a fan of Daughtry during “American Idol” and still is today. “From what I saw on the show, he was a really sweet, down-to-earth guy that just so happened to be talented. If I could, I’d go to see the concert just because he seems like a great person,” Sneed said.
Daughtry has also worked with bands such as SR-71, Shinedown and many others, according to artistdirect.com.
Jamee Shea, a senior who has been a fan of Daughtry since he was on “American Idol,” said, “Chris was my favorite contestant during the season. I even saw him perform at the ‘American Idol’ live concert series. [He] was my favorite artist because he had great tonal quality, style, and emotion in his voice.”
Although Brian Morelli, a DJ for WMCX, is not a fan of Daughtry, he is impressed that they are performing at the University. “I think that it is interesting to have a major label rock act perform at Monmouth,” Morelli said. “Given the fact that their singles are included on heavy rotation on mainstream radio and with so many hit singles, it’s really cool to hear that they’re making the trip to West Long Branch.”
Not only are students excited for Daughtry, but Nagy is too. “I think it is great to get an act the caliber of Daughtry. They are four time Grammy nominees and based on ticket sales so far, this will be a great show! As of [January 30], over 2,000 tickets were sold.” Nagy said.
While April is a couple of months away, tickets started going on sale January 27 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com, phone charge at 800-745-3000, the MAC and Pollak Theatre box offices, or select Ticketmaster retail outlets.
Prices for the concert, based on seating, are $42.50 for upper bowl and bleachers and $52.50 for floor and lower bowl.
Additionally, the Student Activities Board is sponsoring limited student discounted tickets for the concert that became available this past Monday.
The price is $20 per ticket with a valid student ID required at time of purchase (students can buy a maximum of 2 tickets per ID).
The night of the Daughtry concert, the parking lot opens up at 5:30 pm while the MAC will allow concertgoers to enter at 6:30 pm.
For more information about Daughtry, visit www.daughtryofficial.com, and for details on the event itself, go to www.monmouth.edu/macmonmouth.
PHOTO COURTESY of coveralia.com
