3 Doors Down Takes Pop-Rock Into a Familiar Neighborhood

Mississippi’s 3 Doors Down has found quick success with the catchy hit “Kryptonite,” but while the band’s groove-heavy pop-rock can be diverting in spurts, there was little lasting effect at its show at the Palace on Wednesday.

Even as singer Brad Arnold sought to connect meaningfully by constantly leaning over the crowd, there was a sameness to much of the music. In this way, the quartet has much in common with such fellow disposable hit-makers as Matchbox Twenty and Third Eye Blind. In its own way, 3 Doors Down is caught somewhere between hard rock that never rocks hard enough and balladry that is clouded by too much noise.

The band slowed things down for “Be Like That,” a song that closely mirrored the sound of Matchbox Twenty. It was tight and well-done, but utterly without any distinctive personality. Some songs had catchy melodies but were performed at such a relaxed energy level that they were too often robbed of any potential drama and tension.

The band did cut loose for brief moments of rumbling rock. And occasionally a dark, provocative riff would emerge, only to submerge again into the faceless rhythms.

Support act Nickelback was at least more serious about its hard rock. Too much of the band’s set was lumbering rock, but Nickelback did find a sly groove on the Filter-ish “Look What Your Money Bought,” even with lyrics that were bitter and sometimes petty, earning what amounted to some half-hearted moshing.