Three Days Grace Proves It’s “Never Too Late,” ‘Alienation’ Tour Storms Grand Rapids
What started as a sunny evening on Tuesday, February 24th, at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, ended with a storm of rock music and nostalgia. Everyone in the arena came together as one for the massive return of Three Days Grace on tour for their new album ‘Alienation’, which was released in August of 2025.
With support from Michigan’s own I Prevail and Atlanta’s The Funeral Portrait, this show was proving to be an arena packed with theatrics, high kicks, headbanging, pyro, everyone singing along, and surprises that I don’t think many expected. The show had more than enough energy to keep everyone present fully engaged in everything happening on stage.
THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT
Just before 7:00 p.m., The Funeral Portrait performed their pre-show side stage rituals before taking the dark stage to Frank Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” which set the tone for their dark and theatrical stage presence they bring to every show they perform. Having seen The Funeral Portrait several times now, I was no stranger to the amount of drama that happens on stage with their sets or as they and their fans, “The Coffin Crew,” refer to them as “Devotions.”
A Tears for Fears Cover of “Mad World” began their set with Lee Jennings belting out the somber tune, with the band slowly making their presence known in the darkness behind him. The fast-paced and intense energy of “Generation Psycho” was a crowd favorite that had fans at the barricade jumping in unison with the band on stage, along with “Blood Mother,” “Holy Water,” “Voodoo Doll,” and “Dark Thoughts,” where vocalist Lee Jennings had the crowd participate in counting the dark thoughts used in the lyrics.
A slight slowdown and breather track in ”Stay Weird” included holding up a child’s handmade sign that echoed that sentiment, which was brought on stage during the song. The Funeral Portrait ended their set after 8 songs, finishing with “Suffocate City,” which is also the title track of their latest album. The fan participation and interest proved that The Funeral Portrait was a crowd pleaser that was set to begin the energy and set the tone for the rest of the show that followed.
I PREVAIL
It didn’t take long for Michigan’s own I Prevail to take the stage to screams and cheers. What makes them a hometown favorite is that most of the members have been Michigan residents, stretching from the west side to the east side of the lower peninsula. Any time a hometown band makes it back to their state of origin, and especially at an Arena show, you know they are packing the punches for a major performance that would have the entire audience in awe and immersed. “NWO”, “Bow Down” and “Self-Destruction” started their action and pyro-intense setlist- the heat not only from vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe’s heavy screams but also fireballs that shot out across the stage.
I Prevail’s newer band member lineup has proven to work well for them, with Dylan Bowman joining on clean vocals and getting it right every time. I Prevail brought back the hits such as “Bad Things,” “There’s Fear of Letting Go,” and “Hurricane.” They threw in a mix of newer bangers such as “Into Hell,” which shows Eric’s multi-vocal range and a softer side of the band, “Violent Nature,” “God,” and other heavy hitters that had the crowd insane and on their feet, ready to throw their bodies against each other in an acceptable fit of aggression.
A Gabe Helgura drum solo had the crowd cheering and locked in, showing that drummers aren’t just the beat or the background of a band but deserve their own spotlight. A truncated Metallica cover of “Sad But True”’s first verse and chorus was a welcome surprise and made the fans go wild. Tuesday was the evening for unexpected covers from each band that showed that even a partial cover of another famous song is welcomed and appreciated by the audience. From start to finish, I Prevail’s hometown energy shot through the arena much like the pyrotechnics strategically placed across the stage, bringing the heat for a long set support for ‘The Alienation Tour.’ To see I Prevail in 2026, they are continuing as support for this run, as well as preparing for the festival rounds with Hog Fest, Rock Fest, and others across North America.
THREE DAYS GRACE
It was very clear that everyone in that theatre was pumped for Three Days Grace’s very first North American headline tour since they reunited with original vocalist Adam Gontier in 2025. The news of that reunion went viral in a cryptic post early last year when “Mayday” dropped, showing that Matt Walst and Adam Gontier were going to share vocals and even harmonize. With news that they were releasing a new album together, fans of the band (one being myself for the last 25 years) were not prepared for how much this was going to be desired. They released ‘Alienation’ last summer and toured with both Disturbed and Breaking Benjamin to get the new sounds out there. Now, with their own headline tour, fans have hopes of potential new music from the fused band in the future.
When the lights turned down before their set, the entire arena went from the between-band chatter to deafening screams of thousands getting ready to throw it back to the 2000s, mostly Gen X and Millennials (and I am sure many divorced dads). The fans at the barricade were jumping before the band took the stage, and even though the lights were out, you could see how many were donning the merch of all three bands that were there that evening.
“Dominate” from the new album ‘Alienation’ was the perfect song for Three Days Grace to begin with on this tour, while showcasing both Adam and Matt’s incredible vocal abilities. “Animal I Have Become” from their album ‘One-X,’ put Adam in the driver’s seat on vocals and Matt supporting, then moving into “So Called Life” where Matt takes the wheel, and Adam is shotgun. Three songs in, and you knew that the band carefully picked a healthy mix of tracks that are from an Adam-heavy vocal era and ones that were strictly Matt’s vocal songs, which brought them all together with sprinkling in their new material.
The set was broken into multiple parts, with the first set including “Break” (off ‘Life Starts Now’), “Home” (off ‘Three Days Grace’), “The Mountain” (off ‘Outsider’), “Pain” (off ‘One-X’), “Kill Me Fast” (off ‘Alienation’), “I Hate Everything About You” (off ‘Three Days Grace’), “Apologies” (off ‘Alienation’), “Time of Dying” (off ‘One-X’), and “Don’t Wanna Go Home Tonight” (off ‘Alienation’) where they brought out Adam’s cousin Cale on guitar to join as it was a track dedicated to their time growing up in rural Ontario, Canada.
The first part of the show was heavy and kept the crowd enamored, moshing, crowd-surfing, and having the times of their lives, healing to songs they hadn’t heard live from their favorite band in years. I speak for not only myself but for others in that arena- this was a night of healing, a night of feeling, and I could die happy that having been my last show for many reasons.
After the first memorable part of their performance, in the dark, they transitioned to the stage while a video played, sharing the background of this band and where they grew up, humanizing them and their close bond that they have carried through the years. As the lights returned slowly, the screen was a starry night sky out in the middle of nowhere, and the band (with a few fans) were circled around a realistic fire pit simulating a bonfire acoustic session in the woods. The second part would prove to be very nostalgic to nights spent in the summer using music to help heal them and come together to what they are today.
Each member had an acoustic guitar, as well as Neil, with what looked to be a cajón to make beats with. An acoustic “Gone Forever” (off ‘One-X’) was incredibly poignant and hadn’t been played live since 2015; it’s one of my favorite tracks on that album and was the perfect acoustic number to start this unexpected part of the show.
“Lost in You” (off ‘Life Starts Now’), and “Lifetime” (off ‘Explosions’) rounded out the beautiful acoustic set as they transitioned into the next part. That humbling experience of being brought into their lives as friends, family, band mates, and feeling like that intimate time included the thousands of strangers and fans as part of the moment as it was happening was something I didn’t know I would ever experience. For a moment, we weren’t all strangers and fans watching our favorite band on stage; we were there under that starry sky at the bonfire, experiencing history.
Following the beautiful acoustic performance, Adam Gontier took the stage in the dark, a hush over the arena- and out of that darkness, he began singing a cappella “A thousand lies have made me colder…” and little beams of light, much like the candles and lighters of concerts pre-phone era started to pop up across all levels of Van Andel Arena. People who sat for a small period of time rose to their feet as Adam paid an incredibly stunning and perfectly placed tribute in honor of the incredible vocalist of 3 Doors Down, Brad Arnold. Arnold tragically passed away this month after a harrowing and courageous battle with cancer. “Here Without You” is one of their biggest singles, and Adam’s gritty and beautiful vocals were perfection in that moment. He brought us all the comfort while honoring someone so memorable in the music scene. I stood there, tears rolling down as the arena sang with Adam, who was undoubtedly choking up while holding it together to pay tribute to a friend and fellow musician. This moment together, everyone came to honor a piece of ourselves- those of us who became fans decades ago and face moments of fear and our own mortality- but losing a piece of music that helped us get through troubling times and healed us. That moment was for Brad, and I feel he would have felt the love pouring out for him.
Transitioning from the emotion and heartfelt tribute was made lighter with “Just Like You” (off ‘Three Days Grace’), and action-packed “Mayday”, the first single from their new album ‘Alienation.’ The crowd snapped back into their escape from reality and back to crowd-surfing and moshing. “Right Left Wrong” (off ‘Outsider’), “The Good Life” (off ‘Life Starts Now’), and “Painkiller” (off ‘Human’) finished off the second set with double guitar moments from the master Barry Stock, and more energy from Brad Walst across the stage.
When Adam begins to close out the show and announces “Never Too Late,” he acknowledges all of our struggles, the things we have gone through, and how he has heard from so many that this was the anthem, reminding people they can turn their lives around and not end things. Without just going into the songs, he makes a point and takes the time to validate all of us who have had our demons and used music to get through our most difficult times. This band was my saving grace through the times when I felt hopeless. I learned I am not the only one in that, and as he spoke to the whole arena, I felt he was actually speaking solely to me.
The fact that the band finished their huge headlining show with “Riot” and not on a somber note shows their versatility and the resilience of the band and the fans. That wasn’t just a concert- it was an experience- an entire escape from reality for the 5 hours we spent together listening to favorite bands play songs we have had on repeat for years or have yet to have experienced live until last night. It was the best kind of emotional rollercoaster, having us craving more but satisfied with the evening we were leaving behind.
There was nostalgia, tears, screaming the lyrics back to the vocalists; people travelling from all areas of the floor across seas of hands to be handed over to security after a once in a lifetime crowd-surfing moment. It was a night to remember and left us with a promise from Matt Walst himself, ending the evening saying they want to come back “every year.” It was a reunion we never expected to happen but always hoped for after Adam’s departure, and now this band is back, heavier and better with a united two-vocalist album and performances. This is a big year for Three Days Grace, with a headlining tour and multiple festival slots to play. I’m certain their fans can’t wait to see what’s in store with this band in the future.
Catch Three Days Grace on the road by visiting threedaysgrace.com.