Three Days Grace Returns to Toronto For Their Biggest Show of the Summer

jaybroderick
59 minutes ago
6 min read

By: Jay Broderick

Toronto, Ontario - I've stated before... the 1990s brought me away from my beloved Heavy Metal music genre, as I shifted my main listening experiences to the grunge scene, which eventually transitioned into alternative rock. A ton of my focus was on the Canadian bands that rocked even harder than the Bushes and Stone Temple Pilots of the day. Bands like I Mother Earth, Our Lady Peace and Big Wreck were kicking some serious ass! Then in 1997, a band out of Toronto called Three Days Grace exploded on the scene, and they took the reigns through the millennium.

In June 2025, Three Days Grace embarked on a 10 date Canadian run, sharing co-headlining duties with Denmark's Volbeat, and America's Wage War. On June 19th, the tour wheeled through Toronto's premiere summer venue Budweiser Stage. With this being the biggest night of the tour, the anticipation from the fans was immense. There was really just one questions... how would the three acts handle the expectant Three Days Grace hometown crowd?

Wage War

At 7:00 pm, Metallica's "Master of Puppets" blared through the speaker system at the lakefront amphitheatre before Ocala Florida's Wage War kicked things off with not only a bang, but a literal sonic boom! As smoke rose up from the stacks lined along the back of the stage, the band exploded into "NAIL5" with a ton of intensity. There were a lot of people here just to see these metalcore maniacs, and with the power emanating from the 5-piece on the stage, it was easy to see why.

With each band member running back and forth across the stage, the crowd is ablaze. As body surfers head to the security barricade, the band's frontman Briton Bond exclaims "We promise to give you our all! We just ask one thing in return... that you give us the same!!" Man, no truer words have been spoken, because Wage War kicked some serious ass. These guys are easily capable of headlining an event like this of their own. I've seen a lot of amazing opening acts, but this one will rank up there as one of the best.

Volbeat

On February 7, 2012, I headed to Oshawa to catch Gigantour, a heavy metal show featuring Megadeth with select supporting acts. The 2012 rendition featured Megadeth with sorely missed Motorhead, and Lacuna Coil opening. Sandwiched between the latter 2 was a band from Denmark named Volbeat. It was the first I had heard of them, and man, they were FIRE! After seeing Gigantour, my buddy Mike and I agreed that they were amazing! The journey of the rock band! It's cool to see band's progress after years of hard work, to become a headlining act themselves. This time, Volbeat is sharing the duties with Three Days Grace, but as a hometown show, it's easy to understand why Volbeat takes up the role as support.

As the band heads on stage, they stand in front of Jon Larsen's drum kit, their backs to the stage. The strumming of "A Warrior's Call/Pool of Booze Booze Booza" greets us, frontman Michael Poulsen heads to the front of the stage, arms in the air, and we're off!!! The band sounds amazing!!! Damn, these guys are good! And come on... they're cool as hell! Bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen, with his bucket hat that gives me some Justin Bieber vibes, is chewing gum, and nodding coolly to the beat. Seriously cool vibes from the whole band.

As I get to my seat after the standard first 3 songs photo allowance, I see quite a few empty seats. And what's worse, the 2 sections to my left on the 200 level are completely seated. GRRRRRRRR!!!! Thankfully, people are standing in my section but COME ON PEOPLE!!!!! I'm going to start a petition. All live music venues need to have removable seats, and during a rock concert, all tickets must be general admission, with maybe 2 or 3 rows of seats at the back for those who need to take a load off for 5 minutes. It's a long shot, I know... but God, how I hate seeing people sitting at a rock concert. Especially when it's a band as cool as Volbeat. At least the general admission floor section was as alive as the band on stage was. KILLER!!!!

Three Days Grace

Holy shit! As Three Days Grace hit the stage and burst into their 2006 track "Animal I have Become", I can't help but think "Hoy shit! This is a dream!" I mean this on a couple of fronts. As a photographer, this show is an immediate spectacle. The lighting.... WOW!!!! OMG!!! A true dream come true. As a fan, the energy from the stage, the tightness of the band, and the sound of the music is phenomenal! Seriously... 30 seconds in, and I'm smiling from ear to ear. The 13 or so minutes in the photo pit go by way too fast, so it's critical to get myself back to my seat. As I leave after the 3rd song "Break", the chants of "THREE DAYS GRACE! THREE DAYS GRACE! THREE DAYS GRACE" is deafening, even with my ear plugs firmly in place.

Once I get to my seat for "The Mountain", the crowd is full, and they are LOUD! And what a joy to see everybody on their feet, dancing, singing, hands high in the air. As a fan, you will know that original vocalist Adam Gontier left the band in 2013, only to return last year. His replacement, Matt Walst (brother of bassist Brad Walst), stayed on as Gontier returned, making the band a dual vocal 5-piece. Truthfully, I don't love this arrangement with bands, but as Matt Walst interacts with the crowd asking "How the fuck are we feeling out here Toronto?" and introducing the newly released "Apologies", I thought "hmmmmm... the dual vocalists actually really works in this case".

Matt Walst performs live in Toronto. Photo By: Jay Broderick

As the band continues to tear it up on stage, and the crowd enjoying a few wobblies, there is bound to be some going on in the crowd. Sure enough, I catch a glimpse of a female fan seemingly hitting on the security guard at the end of our aisle. She has clearly had her fill. Then a dude appears out of nowhere, dancing in the aisle. The guard asks him to go back to his seat, but he refuses. So the guard calls in the big guns, who come down and escort the 2 (who turned out to actually be a couple) out of the venue.

"For sure you guys are the biggest crowd on this tour" Gontier tells the crowd after "Apologies". "It's so good to be home. Back to the beginning, our first record and our first single was getting played on 102.1 The Edge. I wanna hear everybody, even those back on the lawns." The band goes into "I Hate Everything About You" and the crowd erupts. Again singing, dancing, and of course cell phones held high recording the action on the stage. The band literally rolls through hit after hit (even doing an amazing rendition of Alice In Chains' "Rooster" sung by Gontier), which has fans not inside the venue just as excited, as a drone flies overhead, certainly recording the event taking place.

Set List

Animal I Have Become

So Called Life

Break

Home

The Mountain

Pain

Time of Dying

Apologies

I Hate Everything About You

I Am Machine

Mayday

Rooster (Alice in Chains cover)

Just Like You

The Good Life

Painkiller

Never Too Late

Riot

The lights, the sounds, the action, the cheers. Three Days Grace with Volbeat and Wage War will certainly go down as one of the best shows of 2025. If it doesn't, then we are in for one hell of a ride between now and December. Because this one was a clear standout! As with all great shows, I simply want more!!

Concert Photo Gallery