Daughtry rides Idol wave to Robinson
Posted on Sunday, August 5, 2007
Someday, decades from now, we’ll be shopping in some gigantic supermarket and one of Chris Daughtry’s songs will play over the loudspeakers, broadcasting into the aisles.
It could be “Home,” it could be “It’s Not Over.” It won’t really matter. Our ears will perk up at the drifting guitar loops and imploring vocals. Is it Creed ? Nickelback ?
“This is so early 2000 s,” we’ll say to ourselves.
Daughtry, who finished fourth in the 2006 American Idol competition, has this era’s rock radio grunge pop (or is it pop radio mope-rock ?) down pat.
The lyrics are easy to remember and they elevate teen angst to high drama — for example, “Used To”: You used to talk to me / like I was the only one around / You used to lean on me / the only other choice was falling down. The guitar riffs are catchy and dark when they need to be. The rhythm section gallops along among the synthesizers.
If you doubt the effectiveness of Daughtry and his band, reduced to the simple Daughtry, consider the following In April when he played Juanita’s in Little Rock, the show sold out within hours.
His first album, Daughtry, has sold more than 3 million copies. Not only is that better sales than the solo efforts of the American Idol competitors who finished ahead of him (combined ), it’s also the best-selling album so far this year. And at any given moment on his Web site, www. daughtryofficial. com, hundreds and sometimes thousands of his fans are logged in. Users write on his Web log, post photos, send comments, and have Daughtry updates sent via text messages to their cell phones.
“I have a serious case of OCD [obsessed with Chris Daughtry ],” writes one Web site user from the Cleveland area. “I don’t want a cure, I like this disorder; he is the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think of when I go to bed, and the time in between I rock out to the CD.” What’s so appealing about this bald-headed 27-year-old North Carolinian who turned down a chance to be the lead singer for Fuel ?
In an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, he explained his success “People relate to it because it’s pretty simple, everyday life stuff,” he says. “We’ve worked our butts off all our life to get where we are. And people see that... we’ve definitely put in our time in the clubs, playing for workers or maybe 15 people at the most. It’s all definitely paid off.” MUSIC Daughtry 8 p.m. Monday, Robinson Center Music Hall, Markham Street and Broadway, Little Rock Tickets: $ 31. 50 (501 ) 244-8800 www. ticketmaster. com
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