‘ I’m extremely excited to see Glasgow’\
US band founded by late Linkin Park star head for city ... and drummer Sean has been given some advice if he visits any bars
“I KNOW we’re biased but I think the music we wrote is fantastic and the fans are going to love it”, Sean Dowdell says ahead of Grey Daze’s Glasgow gig next week.
Formed in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1993, the band was co- founded by drummer Sean and Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington after the two met in high school.
While the band toured on the back of two successful albums between 1994 and 1998, they never made it across the pond before disbanding with Chester joining Xero, which later became Linkin Park, in 1999.
The band are now performing in the UK for the very first time as they embark on a tour this month, marking 30 years since the release of their first album Wake Me, with a show at the Cathouse on Wednesday.
“I’m very excited, I’ve been to the UK many times but I’ve never gotten the chance to perform there with the band which is very exciting,” Sean says.
“I’ve never been to Glasgow before and I’m extremely excited to see the city.”
In 2016, Chester instigated the reformation of Grey Daze and they began working on a new album, with Sean rejoining the band alongside original bass player Mace Beyers and newly recruited guitarist Cristin Davis.
However, dad- of- six Chester passed away in July 2017 at the age of 41 before they were able to complete it.
Sean says embarking on their first UK tour without Chester is difficult for the band.
He said: “We all wish Chester were here. There’s no real way to get around that. We all wish he was here but unfortunately, he’s not. We have to deal with life the way it comes at us and things we do have and can focus on is trying to make sure the music gets out there and fans get a chance to hear it live.”
Grey Daze made the difficult decision to finalise the album Amends which reached number one in the UK rock and metal album charts in 2020, before releasing a second posthumous album to immortalise Chester’s vocals called The Phoenix in 2022 which reached number two.
Sean says he was “surprised” by the response from UK fans and how well it was received, which pushed them to come here on tour.
He also says he’s looking forward to coming to Glasgow in particular because his family heritage goes back to Scotland.
“Some advice I got was to not get in a bar fight in Glasgow,” he laughs, “and I hear the locals like to drink.
“It always made me laugh because my heritage goes back to Scotland so I always smile when I think about it. I hear they’re feisty and I think that’s cool.
“Hopefully they love what we’re doing live I think we’re going to blow them away.”
In 2023, LA- based emerging rock singer Cris Hodges was invited to front the band, using his vocal talent to pay tribute to Chester’s unique legacy in Grey Daze and allowing fans to enjoy their music live in concert.
Sean says the support and response from fans as they became the current four- piece has been “fantastic”.
“We were all a little nervous as to how they were going to accept Cris into the mix,” he explains, “but they’ve been very gracious and to Cris’s credit he understands the hallowed ground he’s walking on and respects it very much.
“I think the fans really see it.” Cris says they were cautious about having him perform in the band and would not have had him join had fans not reacted positively. He said: “The response was overwhelmingly positive and that’s what led us to playing our first show in Phoenix and then a few shows around the US and now finally coming to the UK.”
He continued: “There’s a saying that good music should never die and this is great music.
“And if people have the chance to hear this live, they deserve to hear it.
“And we’ve taken the necessary steps to make sure we’re honouring Chester, honouring his legacy and his family are heavily involved in all of the recordings.
“We’ve taken the necessary steps and now the fans get to see the hard work we’ve put in.”
But getting in front of a crowd isn’t the only thing Cris is looking forward to when he’s in the city next week.
“You know what I want to do when I’m in Glasgow?” he asks.
“I want to go to the diveiest of dive bars that every local loves to go to.”
Grey Daze will be at the Cathouse on Wednesday. They will be supported by North Atlas and High Regard.