KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Day one of AmericaFest closed out with a performance by 3 Doors Down, complete with a roaring crowd.
The band performed live for service members, their families and Department of Defense employees on the flight line at Kadena Air Base, Japan, June 28.
3 Doors Down is an American Alternative rock band from Escatawpa, Mississippi, with five members currently; Brad Arnold, lead singer, Justin Biltonen, bassist, Greg Upchurch, drummer, Chris Henderson, guitarist and Chet Roberts, guitarist.
After a bit of trouble due to a medical emergency mid-flight, 3 Doors Down arrived just moments before their show began but still had all the energy and intensity Kadena could handle.
"The crowd was so exciting ... the energy was so intense last night we didn't care about any of that because we were having so much fun," Upchurch said. "When the crowd is like that it just makes us play even better and have more fun too. You feed off of that energy."
The band is very familiar with the touring process so they had no issue handling the delays. Touring through the years has given them real perspective on being away from home.
"We travel for months at a time and it gets tough at times," said Henderson. "But you guys are away from home for years at a shot sometimes."
3 Doors Down is no stranger to military audiences. They have taken every opportunity they can to travel and perform for military audiences all over including deployed locations.
"Every chance we get, we do," Henderson said. "We don't get to do it often enough actually, but we really enjoy it because they take such good care of you. Sometimes you don't know what's going to happen to you from one day to the next when you do those kinds of shows because they happen fast."
On Sunday, June 29, Kadena's gates opened to the public and along with some fireworks, 3 Doors Down will be headlining once again using their music as a way to cross that cultural gap.
"Music is just so universal," Upchurch said. "It's not political, it's not anything. I mean it's just, you enjoy something because it's music. Anything that like, gives you chills when you hear like a great melody or vocal line it just touches anybody no matter what."
According to Biltonen, music is a powerful thing.
"It's like that one thing that brings everybody together," Biltonen said. "There's not much else in the world or in life that can connect people who have absolutely nothing in common."
That is exactly what AmericaFest is about here on Kadena.