It’s been quite a while since Three Days Grace last performed in the Netherlands. With the release of their new album Alienation and, even more importantly, the return of original vocalist Adam Gontier, the timing felt perfect for the band to head across the Atlantic and play some of the largest headline shows of their career for their European audience.
On previous visits to the country, Three Days Grace had always filled Tilburg’s Poppodium 013 – a venue that holds 3,000 people and was sold out every time. This time, though, they stepped up to the AFAS Live in Amsterdam, a room with twice the capacity at 6,000. The combination of a strong new record and the excitement around Gontier’s comeback made the bigger room an easy sell: tickets were gone weeks in advance, with longtime supporters and newer fans both eager to see this refreshed version of the band – now featuring two distinct lead vocalists, each bringing his own style and strengths to the table.
The stage production was kept relatively simple. A few large screens displayed visuals that tied into the themes of the songs, but there were no elaborate props, pyrotechnics, or moving parts. The focus stayed firmly on the music and on letting the current lineup shine.
That focus paid off. Musically, the show felt like a complete overview of the band’s history. During Adam Gontier’s absence, Three Days Grace released three full albums fronted solely by Matt Walst, and over the years we had grown used to hearing Walst sing the older, Gontier-era material. What felt fresh this time was the reverse: hearing both singers share the Walst-era songs. Tracks like Painkiller and The Mountain gained an extra layer when the two voices traded lines or layered harmonies – it was one of the night’s clearest signs that this lineup works.
The setlist itself was a genuine celebration of everything the band has released over the past 22 years. It reached all the way back to the self-titled debut and its breakout single I Hate Everything About You, a song that still gets one of the loudest reactions of any in their catalogue, and worked its way forward through every phase of their career.
The audience made it obvious from the first notes how much Gontier’s return meant to them – the energy in the room was different from any Three Days Grace show I’ve seen in the past decade. At one point Gontier took a moment to thank the rest of the band for the excellent albums they made while he was away and to say how grateful he was to be back. Those words clearly resonated; you could feel the connection between stage and floor all night.
Between songs, members often shared short stories about how a particular track came together or what it means to them. Those little insights created a surprisingly intimate atmosphere, even in a 6,000-capacity arena.
Overall, this stop on the Alienation tour was something special. As someone who has followed and enjoyed both chapters of the band’s story, I left convinced that the current two-vocalist setup is the strongest lineup Three Days Grace have ever had. Gontier and Walst complement each other remarkably well across the entire catalogue, and the new material – especially songs like Mayday – translates even more powerfully live than it does on the album.
We were lucky to be there for it. If you couldn’t make the show, the photo gallery below will at least give you an idea of what the night looked and felt like.
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