Rocking Out: Theory of a Deadman (top and bot­tom) and Halestorm (cen­ter) came back from their sum­mer of play­ing shows with Motley Crue to enter­tain the crowds at Wink Arena last week for the annual January Jams con­cert. Theory of a Deadman per­fomed as an opener for January Jams act 3 Doors down in 2003. Photos By: Brandon Martinez | Web Editor

After arriv­ing in Big Rapids Thursday after­noon, the mem­bers of Theory of a Deadman decided to get out on the ice at the Ewigleben Sports Complex and shoot some pucks around.

The Canadian rock band, known as TOAD for short, came to Ferris to head­line the annual January Jams con­cert. Dean Back, the band’s bassist, is no stranger to hav­ing some fun with bands like Motley Crue and Daughtry.

“The whole sum­mer with Motley Crue was a blast,” said Back. “Most of those guys have set­tled down, but Tommy [Lee] is still crazy.”

Back shared a story about Lee shoot­ing off fire­works from his tour bus after get­ting bored.

“We have the hockey pack­age on the bus, so we usu­ally sit on the tour bus and watch hockey,” said Back of the band’s more typ­i­cal pre-performance rituals.

TOAD will also be play­ing at the Winter Olympics com­ing up in Vancouver. They will be play­ing along­side other Canadian acts such as Nelly Furtado, Barenaked Ladies and Loverboy, among others.

“We were lucky enough to be asked and are hon­ored to play the Olympics,” said Back.

The most recent album released by TOAD was in 2008, titled “Scars and Souvenirs.” They have three albums total and have been play­ing as a band since 2002.

The suc­cess has come at a price; with the rig­or­ous world­wide tour­ing sched­ule the band has under­taken since its begin­ning, Back said, “It’s a dream come true. I recently had a lit­tle girl, so I miss home and miss my family…but they’re very supportive.”

TOAD came on stage around 9:30 p.m. after open­ing acts Halestorm, Adelitas Way and Taking Dawn fin­ished, to a crowd of Ferris stu­dents scream­ing and hold­ing “rock on” fists in the air Thursday night. They enter­tained the crowd with heav­ier songs as well as a string of acoustic songs mid-way through the show.

After the first few songs, lead singer Tyler Connolly said to the crowd, “We are Theory of a Deadman and we’re going to play a lit­tle rock and roll for every­one, if you don’t mind.”

The annual event was spon­sored by the Delta Chi fra­ter­nity, Entertainment Unlimited and local Y-102 radio sta­tion with funds as allo­cated by the finance divi­sion of Student Government.

For more pho­tos, check out the January Jams Photo Gallery.