Gig review: Grey Daze at Rescue Rooms

The late Chester Bennington's first and only band before he joined the mighty Linkin Park are a gem of the mid/late nineties who went largely unnoticed until their phenomenal return in 2020. The #ForYouChester tour featured a number of different support bands, and Nottingham was given the chance to see two before the headline act showed up.

Octavia Wakes were first on stage, and whilst the crowd were not quite in the mood before 7pm on a Tuesday, they still provided a great performance, with a good alt rock vibe to start the music.

High Regards came on next and were a polished unit onstage, showing off a similar style to Octavia Wakes but with more experience that showed throughout. Each act fitted the whole atmosphere of the show excellently, and by the time Grey Daze came on, the crowd was feeling a lot livelier.

As the headliners walked onstage, the room instantly seemed noisier, it felt more crowded, and the emotions in the room started to ride that little bit higher, with thoughts of Chester Bennington at the forefront of the evening. Numerous punters were there in Linkin Park regalia, with a variety of logos and tour shirts represented across all eras of the iconic band. Grey Daze themselves were well represented too, with plenty of people wearing their hoodies and T-shirts for the band.

Starting their set with Saturation into Here, Nearby, they kicked off well and got the crowd involved, before a little down the line songs such as Just Like Heroin (A Little Down) and Hole really captured everybody’s energy. The room wasn’t as viscerally loud as expected, but emotions were running higher than nearly any other gig Rescue Rooms will have ever put on, with numerous attendees crying throughout the set.

The back half of the show was especially powerful, and even with bassist Mace Beyers out of action due to a family emergency, to which we wish him and his family all the best, the remaining three played their hearts out. Cris Hodges was a flawless frontman, stepping into the place of Chester without usurping him, singing in such a similar tone to the great man but with a slight twist on things to keep it his own. Sean Dowdell, the man who started it all, played a physically demanding set behind the drum kit throughout, and Cristin Davis riffed and solo’d his way through every single track on the setlist.

From the moment Morei Sky started, everything seemed to be dialled up to eleven. There didn’t feel to be time passing between that and Drag, nor that and Soul Song, as they kept everyone under their sway and their control. The final three of the night hit that much harder than usual, as Starting to Fly got people choked up before Sickness gave an uplifting and poignant place to pause, and finale B12 let the trio end the show in style.

Grey Daze performed at Rescue Rooms on 14th May 2024.

@greydazeofficial