3 Doors Down frontman Brad Arnold talks band's 20-year anniversary tour, Bossier concert

The Grammy Award-nominated multi-platinum rock band 3 Doors Down is back on the road celebrating 20 years since the release of their debut album, “The Better Life.”

“The Better Life 20th Anniversary Tour” kicked off in Greeley, Colorado, in June. It was the performers’ first time in front of a live audience since September 2019.

The 20th-anniversary milestone was marked in 2020, but the tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an adjustment getting back on the stage after a long hiatus but performing for live audiences has been “exhilarating,” said 3 Doors Down frontman Brad Arnold.

The U.S. tour will make a stop in Bossier City this month — 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 29 at the Brookshire Grocery Arena (formerly CenturyLink Center).

“The Better Life 20th Anniversary Tour” is giving fans a chance to be transported back to the band’s breakout days. Over the past two decades, 3 Doors Down has released numerous albums, but their first single “Kryptonite” from “The Better Life” album remains a crowd favorite—and their top-played song on Spotify. At the concert, audiences will hear this and many more hits.

“We’re going to play ‘The Better Life’ album in its entirety front to back,” Arnold said. “It gives fans the chance to listen to the album as they heard it 20 years ago. After we get done with that, we’ll play the rest of our hits—as many as we can pack into the show. It’s definitely a show where you know every song.”

More:Strand Theatre 2021-2022 touring season includes Broadway hits, classics, and kid favorites

More:The Lot brings vibrancy to downtown Shreveport's entertainment landscape

Other popular songs by 3 Doors Down include “Be Like That,” “Here Without You,” “When I’m Gone,” and “It’s Not My Time.”

Special guests Seether also will play the Bossier City show. Seether is known for songs including “Fake It,” “Remedy,” and “Country Song.”

In addition to the national tour, 3 Doors Down has delivered on a re-mastered 20th Anniversary Edition of “The Better Life” album, released earlier this year. Fans may also listen to the "Escatawpa Sessions,” which features seven demo versions from “The Better Life” and three previously unreleased tracks recorded in the founding members’ hometown, Escatawpa, Mississippi, in 1996.

3 Doors Down has experienced many challenges and successes over the course of the band’s career. The anniversary tour is allowing for reflections and reconnections with fans.

Singer-songwriter Brad Arnold talked to The Times about the concert experience—on and off stage, his favorite song to perform live, and the band’s decision to stay sober and soak in the moments of “The Better Life 20th Anniversary Tour.”

The Times: What was it like to get back on the road on tour and back to live performances?

Brad Arnold: “It was exciting, to say the least. It was exhilarating to walk on stage again. My wife went out with me. I hugged her before I went out and was like, ‘I am so nervous!’ But it was exciting. I wasn’t scared nervous—I just had to hold back a little bit when it first came out on stage because it was exhilarating.”

The Times: What did you do during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine in 2020?

Arnold: “I live on a farm in Tennessee and I have about 50 acres here of old trees that needed cleaning up. I took advantage of it and I got a lot of stuff done on my farm. We have two colts that we’re raising—they’re 3 years old. This is the year we started riding them. I hated the reason for being home but all in all I had a pretty awesome year, to be honest.”

The Times: Did you spend any time writing or recording songs?

Arnold: “I did. I wrote a few songs. Just being around my house—I’ve never been a guy who could sit down in the studio and write a song. I just write a song down when they come to me. Songs come to me when I’m very far from musical things. I write when I’m outside working in my yard. I used to mow refinery tank fields in south Mississippi and driving that tractor is probably where I wrote the lyrics to half of our first record. It’s nice to have a phone in your pocket so you can just record in the middle of doing something. You get an idea and sing into your phone real quick. I did that a lot.”

The Times: Will we hear any of those songs on the current tour?

Arnold: Not this month but you might hear them later.

The Times: Are there any songs that you feel most excited to play or that mean the most to you?

Arnold: “It’s always fun to play ‘Kryptonite.’ That’s a fun song that everybody always sings along to. ‘Here Without You’ is a song people sing along with all the time. But I enjoy singing the song 'Away from the Sun' the most. A lot of the time we’re running around and trying to put on a show. With that one, I just stand there and sing it. It’s a song I can relate to a lot and I feel like a lot of people can.”

The Times: Are the previously unreleased songs from "Escatawpa Sessions” on the setlist?

Arnold: “We are putting the songs in (that) people expect us to play. It bothers me when I go to a concert and somebody doesn’t play the song I want them to play. Sometimes they won’t play all of their hits and it’s like, ‘Man, I came to hear that song and I want to hear it!’ So, we make sure we put all the hits in the show.”

The Times: Did you ever expect 3 Doors Down to make the 20-year milestone?

Arnold: “Absolutely not. It’s something that you dream about but that you never expect. We have been so blessed, not only to have done it 20 years but we have the best fans in the world. We have great, great fans. To be able to tour around and perform is a bonus—to get to meet all the people and see all the cities we’ve gotten to see and experience the world. To get to do it for this long is by the grace of God and I thank Him for it every day.”

The Times: If you could go back in time, is there any advice you would give Brad Arnold from 20 years ago?

Arnold: “I would’ve told myself to not drink and to just enjoy it sober. I feel like God’s always got you where He wants you, but I feel like there are a lot of years I would’ve enjoyed a lot more if I had have become a responsible adult a bit earlier. Everybody in our band is sober now and it’s something that we celebrate. We’re not ashamed of what we used to be, but we all are really thankful for the way that we are now. We see just how much more we enjoy touring and we’re able to put on better shows and give the fans what we feel like they deserve for their ticket price. I remember so much more, and everything is so much more fun now. I’ve been sober five-and-a-half years. If I could tell my younger self that, I would say, ‘Man, do it today,’ because I wish that the last 20 years, I would’ve been the way I’ve been for the last five years.”

The Times: What are your current goals? What else do you want to achieve?

Arnold: “I’m just going to go out and have some fun this summer. Go where the next step is. I think after this tour we’re going to start writing some songs, maybe, and put them out in a bit different dimension than we have in the past. Maybe just write three or four songs at a time and put some out and see what people like for no other reason than to have some new songs to play live at our shows.”

The Times: What is it like to attend a 3 Doors Down concert?

Arnold: “It’s definitely a concert you can bring your kids to and that you don’t have to worry about what they’re going to hear coming off the stage. We have a good time. We have one goal: I want everybody to walk out of that venue safe and walk out of that venue with a smile on their face. If we can do that then we’ve done our job.”

The Times: Is there anything else you’d like fans to know?

Arnold: “I’d like to let everyone know how much we appreciate them. Thank you so much for 20-plus years. We look forward to hopefully 20 more.”

If you go

What: 3 Doors Down presents "The Better Life 20th Anniversary Tour"

Where: Brookshire Grocery Arena, 2000 Brookshire Grocery Arena Dr., Bossier City

When: 8 p.m. July 29

Cost: $25-$86 plus fees. VIP packages are available.

Info: “The Better Life 20th Anniversary Tour” is produced by Live Nation. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com and the Brookshire Grocery Arena’s box office. Visit the arena’s website for updates on box office times and COVID-19 guidelines at brookshiregroceryarena.com or call (318) 747-2501.

For more about 3 Doors Down, visit 3doorsdown.com, and follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @3DoorsDown. For music videos, visit YouTube.