Theory Introduces Their ‘Bad Girlfriend’

It’s not that often a bona fide modern rock band embarks upon the grounds of Kosciusko County. Wednesday night at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds, the tour bus opened up and out came Theory of a Deadman upon the masses, and with it a huge rock show.

On the strength of several radio hits, Theory of a Deadman showed they are as strong as ever with a very lively set that started a little slow but picked up in a hurry.

The Canadian quartet, riding the momentum of its single “Hurricane” from its latest album, ‘The Truth Is’, did play the hit as the first song of its encore as the sun set on the fairgrounds. Theory, which had the stage to itself Wednesday night as the only band and playing its first show on the current tour, wound down its 75-minute set with a trio of covers intermingled with their smashes.

Lead singer Tyler Connolly grabbed the audience’s attention early, pulling an iPhone from his pocket after the first song and recording the crowd to video, which he promised to feed the video to the band’s YouTube page.

As the band recharged after throwing several album tracks at the crowd, they morphed into an instrumental of “Nutshell” by Alice In Chains, which spun into “Santa Monica” from Theory’s ‘Gasoline’ album. A short pause had Connolly and lead guitarist Dave Brenner strum into the opening chords of Eric Clapton’s hit “Cocaine” and an impromptu sing-along. Connolly blended the point home, jumping into the radio smash “I Hate My Life” to close the front of the set.

The band re-took the stage and whipped “Hurricane” to the receptive crowd in the pit as well as a near-packed grandstand. From there, the guitar riffs teased Guns ‘N’ Roses epic “Paradise City” which gave the crowd a reason to unite. The close to the show came as Connolly pointed to the dozens of ladies in the crowd and appointed any of the anonymous the “Bad Girlfriend” as they chimed into their biggest hit.

Theory of a Deadman have been together since 2002 in which they released their self-titled album. ‘Gasoline’ and ‘Scars & Souveniers’ each followed three years apart, with ‘The Truth Is’ completing the list.

Theory of a Deadman are sandwiched in the 2012 fair concert series, with Brandon Heath having played Tuesday night and Chris Young set to take the stage Thursday night.