Live Review : Three Days Grace + Badflower @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on December 12th 2025

Three Days Grace, are the true definition of cult heroes. They may well have shifted 10 million albums and singles worldwide but outside of the close-knit community that they have built, you would be hard pressed to point them out in a police line-up. The fan base is rabid, reverential and fiercely loyal but beyond those confines, they are at best also-rans and at worst a poor person’s Nickelback. Within that close fraternity of evangelical followers tonight is akin to a form of second coming. This is their first show in this city since they reunited with original singer Adam Gontier. They have gone down the Helloween route with this reunification; his return augments the existing lineup as opposed to superseding , meaning that Adam and his replacement Matt Walst now operate as duel vocalists, further enhancing an already epic and anthemic sound.

Badflower are another proponent of modern American alt-rock. They take grunge’s rough and ready style and polish it up for an audience that wants slick radio radio-friendly rock. It’s all emotionally heavy rock-pop with a reliance on blatant self-awareness. They speak to Generation Z's desire for openness and genuineness, and they go down really well with the crowd. There is a plethora of pumping fists, raised voices and the vocal reaction is enough to shake the room.

However engaging Badflower are, tonight is really only about the return of Three Days Grace and their amalgamated new form. As the lights dropped the cheers are enormous and “chants of here we, here we, here we fucking go” ring round the venue. They crash straight into ‘Dominate’ from this year’s “Alienation” and the crowd are immediately whipped into a frenzied lathe, with the entire venue singing along to the music. The question mark for endeavours of this kind is how it will work out with singers from different eras of the band. Fan favourite ‘Animal I have Become’, dropped the second song in, nails their approach with Adam and Matt alternating verses between them. Immediately, it is obvious that sharing the lines in this manner gives the songs additional texture and depth.

It is not until ‘The Mountain’ that Adam touches on the elephant in the room of his return. He talks about their initial run of releases and then his departure in 2013 (which is met with boos and playful banter between Adam and the crowd). He goes on to thank Matt and the band for carrying on the legacy and for welcoming him back with open arms. It is immediately obvious that this is far more unfinished business than a cynical fiscal reunion.

Whilst he is provided with plenty of opportunities to milk his resurrection, including solo version of Radiohead’s’Creep’, Adam is incredibly careful not to steal the limelight from his successor. It could have very easily turned into the classic line-up with Matt Walst operating as a spare part, but it doesn’t. They come across as a coherent and consistent unit. There is such passion and pathos at play that ‘Never Too Late’ affects tear ducts all over the shop. Adam adds to its air of emotional honesty by stating in its introduction that it’s ok to ask for help if you need it. It just adds the overall feeling of honest vulnerability that resonates through tonight. Three Days Grace, forego the masculine mask and instead create music that wears its heart and its fragility on its sleeve.

Over 90 minutes, 19 songs and seven albums, they prove that this equalitarian version of reformation works. It is clear the band would’ve kept playing till they couldn’t physically be able to and the finale of ‘Riot’ acts as a culmination simply because they have reached the end of the set list rather than the band wanted to stop. The final hurrah from the crowd is deafening and there is a sumptuous air of mutual admiration and gratification. Three Days Grace may not mean much to the person in the street but it is obvious that this crowd absolutely adores and reveres them.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Three Days Grace + Badflower