Three Days Grace
| RPF Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name(s): | Three Days Grace, 3 Days Grace, TDG, 3DG |
| Scope/Focus: | Popular Canadian Rock Band |
| Date(s): | Three Days Grace (album) (also known as Self-titled or Debut): July 22, 2003 One-X: June 13, 2006 Life Starts Now: September 22, 2009 Transit of Venus: October 2, 2012 Human: March 31, 2015 Outsider: March 9, 2018 |
| See also: | Official site Wikipedia |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock/post-grunge band popular in numerous countries worldwide. The band started as Groundswell in 1992 among a group of five high school friends, but later became a three-piece and changed their name to Three Days Grace before being signed by Jive Records. Lead singer Adam Gontier, bassist Brad Walst, and drummer Neil Sanderson were the founding members at the time of their signing. While touring for their self-titled album, lead guitarist Barry Stock was added as a touring member and later an official member of the band. For Transit of Venus, touring keyboardist Dani Rosenoer was also added. In January 2013, only a few months after Transit of Venus was released, it was announced that Adam had left the band to start a solo career and Brad's younger brother Matt Walst, also lead singer of the band My Darkest Days, was brought in as the new lead singer.[1] Matt became an official member of the band March 28, 2014.[2]
Their music is often used in AMVs, especially songs off their second album One-X such as Animal I Have Become, Pain, Riot, Time of Dying, and Never Too Late. Many of their singles have also been featured in commercials, video games, and sporting events.
Activity
The Three Days Grace fandom has been active since at least the release of One-X, mostly due to the sudden popularity of the band. After Life Starts Now was released a sub-community of fans came together mainly on Tumblr as the Gracedom, which grew in size and activity in the weeks leading up to the release of Transit of Venus. The fandom as a whole became markedly divided after Adam left the band, with most becoming either supporters of the band or of Adam in the months following. With Matt now generally accepted as the new lead singer and well liked, the fandom started to begin to grow again in anticipation of the fifth album, Human, released in 2015.[3]
Ships
By far the two most popular ships in the fandom are Bradam (Brad/Adam) and Natt (Neil/Matt). Bradam continues to be the most popular ship even nearly five years after Adam left the band. Natt gained popularity in the fandom in 2014 especially after a post on the band's official Instagram of the two showing off matching tattoos of the caduceus symbol. Other somewhat common ships are Neidam (Neil/Adam), Artship (Brad/Neil), and Three Ways Grace or TWG (Brad/Neil/Adam), and Mani (Matt/Dani). However, there are ships for just about every potential pairing of the bandmates and small fics for most of them. Barry and Dani are not typically involved in shipping but are found in fics as supporting characters along with Shawn Hamm, the band's tour manager, and Matt in fics written or taking place before Adam leaving. Very rarely mentions or appearances of the band's wives and/or children can be found.
Common fanfic tropes
- Fics focusing on Adam's past addiction to prescription pills and his rehabilitation
- Less common but also present are fics in which Adam relapses or overdoses, neither of which are canon
- Fics set during high school since Adam, Brad, and Neil canonically met and became close friends in high school
- Fics focusing on the time leading up to, during, or shortly after Adam left the band, including fics giving various fanon explanations for him leaving
- Hurt/Comfort and Angst Bradam fics in which something bad happens to Brad
- Neidam fics where their relationship is toxic or abusive
- Vampire AUs, usually with Adam or Neil as a vampire depending on the ship
- Adam being shipped with OCs, self-inserts, or random members of other bands, typically other lead singers
At the time of writing there isn't one definitive fic well known throughout or outside the fandom. Most fics are found on personal Tumblrs, stored on a specific Tumblr just for mainly anonymous Gracedom fics, or on Deviant Art accounts, although the fandom has recently begun spreading to AO3 and Wattpad. Other types of fanworks are not as common but include drawings, comics, Tumblr photo sets, Tumblr style PowerPoints, Photoshops, and intentionally low quality photo manipulations.