Breaking Benjamin & Three Days Grace, Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater

Sep 27

Show Review

The line outside Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater in Greenwood Village Colorado on 9/25/2025 was already a snake pit hours before doors opened, a restless coil of fans buzzing at the rare chance to see Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin not just in the same city, but sharing a tour. By the time the gates opened and the sun started its descent, the atmosphere was already humming, the kind of crackle you only get when two heavyweight bands pull their fanbases together under one roof.

Return To Dust were the ones tasked with lighting the fuse, and they attacked it like their lives depended on it. No one stood still; guitars swung, bodies moved, and their set carried that “prove it or lose it” fire every opener dreams of. For a band this young, they played with the intensity of veterans, and by the time their last notes faded the crowd wasn’t just politely warmed up, they were hungry.

That hunger boiled over as Three Days Grace stormed the stage. The amphitheater erupted, the first riffs unleashing a tidal chant that would echo between songs all night: “Three Days Grace! Three Days Grace!” Their setlist was a perfect storm; older staples like “Riot” and “Pain” stacked against new cuts off Explosions and Alienation, including “Mayday,” which hit with surprising weight live. But the real headline wasn’t the songs, it was the presence of Adam Gontier, back onstage with the band he once left behind, shoulder-to-shoulder with Matt Walst, who had carried the torch in his absence.

What could have been awkward instead felt like alchemy. The two traded lines, harmonized across eras, and openly shared respect on the mic. Adam grateful to be welcomed back, Matt humbled to have kept things alive. For fans who’d grown up screaming Gontier’s words and then stuck through Walst’s tenure, it felt like a bridge built in real time. When “Never Too Late” rolled out, the crowd didn’t just sing along they were preforming with the band on a spiritual level.

After the curtain dropped and Breaking Benjamin stormed the stage, the amphitheater detonated. Benjamin Burnley and company wasted no time diving into a career-spanning set from “So Cold” to “Red Cold River” to “Failure”, every chorus met with a wall of voices. The energy was relentless, fans hoisting themselves overhead to surf the crowd, lyrics pouring out like second nature.

Halfway through, Burnley stopped the chaos to point out a group of kids at the barricade, reminding everyone to keep it safe and even offering to pull them onstage if needed. It was a rare moment of tenderness in a night built on catharsis, punctuated by Burnley’s reflection on how wild it was to see so many generations standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the pit. Then the storm resumed. It was louder, heavier, and the kind of sustained rush most bands would kill to generate for even a song or two.

By the time the closing notes hit, there wasn’t a throat unshredded or a body unspent. Return To Dust earned their stripes, Three Days Grace rewrote their own story with two frontmen sharing the mic, and Breaking Benjamin reminded everyone why they’ve stayed giants in this scene for over two decades. Fiddler’s Green didn’t just host a show, it hosted a historical moment.

Return To Dust

Emerging from Los Angeles in 2022, Return To Dust picked up the raw shards of ’90s grunge and recast them through a modern hard-rock prism. The four-piece; Matty Bielawski (vocals/guitar), Graham Stanush (bass/vocals), Sebastian Gonzalez (guitar), and London Hudson (drums) released their debut EP Black Road in 2023, then dropped their self-titled first LP in May 2024. Despite being a relative newcomer, they’ve moved quickly: touring with Sevendust, issuing multiple music videos, and announcing further EPs under the banner Speak Like the Dead.

Three Days Grace

Hailing from Norwood, Ontario (then re-forming in Toronto), Three Days Grace has become one of the defining hard rock/post-grunge bands of the 21st century. Formed initially as “Groundswell” in 1992, the core trio; Adam Gontier (vocals/guitar), Neil Sanderson (drums), and Brad Walst (bass) later reconfigured in 1997 under the new name.

They broke through in 2003 with Three Days Grace, anchored by “I Hate Everything About You,” a visceral anthem that established them as chroniclers of internal struggle. Over the years, their sound has evolved yet still rooted in raw guitars and emotional urgency, but now more polished, with occasional electronic inflections and broader dynamics.

As of 2025, the band has notched a staggering 19 #1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, second only to Shinedown, and continues to tour and release music. They remain lightning rods for the cathartic side of rock: confronting anxiety, alienation, hope, and the space between.

Breaking Benjamin

Breaking Benjamin formed in 1999 around Benjamin Burnley, whose voice, vision, and lyrical pain have remained the band’s constant even as its lineup shifted. Their sound is emblematic: layered guitar crunch, heavy yet melodic dynamics, and emotionally charged vocals. Burnley handles the lion’s share of songwriting, framing the band’s identity in personal introspection and anthemic hooks.

Their discography includes pivotal releases like Saturate (2002), We Are Not Alone (2004), Phobia (2006), Dear Agony(2009), and more recent efforts like Dark Before Dawn (2015) and Ember (2018). Commercially, they’ve been a juggernaut: over 19 million records sold in the U.S. alone, multiple platinum and gold certifications, and a string of high-charting singles.

Even as personnel changed, the core aesthetic remained: haunting choruses, introspective lyrics, and heavy textures. Burning themes of pain, longing, and redemption thread through their catalog.