The life of a rock star has its share of fame and fortune, and also its frustrations. Take travel, for example. Sometimes one’s bus blows a tire and you are stuck on the side of the road for eight hours. One could have forgiven Theory of a Deadman for being in a bad mood at their November 18th show. Yet, despite this setback – which saw the band not arrive at Flames Central until 5:30pm (three hours late) and lead to a delay in doors – in the end it was just 30 minutes after a scheduled 10pm start time that the band took the stage.
Touring behind their latest album Savages the band – singer/guitarist Tyler Connolly, guitarist Dave Brenner, bassist Dean Back and drummer Joey Dandeneau – played a set that was primarily hits from their previous four albums, with just four songs off Savages. These included the title track, which followed a blistering kick-off of "So Happy", "Lowlife" and "The Bitch Came Back".
"I shouldn’t have dedicated "The Bitch Came Back" to the ladies – that wasn’t very nice," Connolly said. He frequently chatted with the crowd, acknowledging that most of their songs are break up songs, but sometimes "we write nice songs," which led into "All or Nothing". Part of the appeal of Theory of a Deadman is its front man. Fitting the ‘tall dark and handsome’ label to its fullest he seemed determined to make eye contact with the entire room. His abundance of charisma, as well as chatty nature, connects him to an audience that was pretty equally divided among men and women – who all sang along to "Nothing Could Come Between Us" from their 2002 debut. The band sat on stools for an acoustic set, featuring a cover of Stone Temple Pilot’s "Interstate Love Song", "Angel" off of Savages and "No Surprise" off of 2005’s Gasoline.
Whether on album or in concert, you get what you expect from Theory of a Deadman. In some ways it is formulaic, but that is perfectly ok. Sometimes you just want to sing along to lyrics about hating your life or escaping to Santa Monica. They are an every-man kind of band whose music resonates, and that is all that matters. They have played Calgary many times in their 12-year career and yet continue to put on high energy shows that keep the audience coming back.
By the time the show wrapped up at nearly midnight with "Bad Girlfriend", Theory of a Deadman had shown that despite what had to have been a long and frustrating day, nothing was going to keep them from putting on a great show.
