Last night's concert was a night of firsts.

It was the first time I have seen an opening act outshine the headliners.

When Shinedown took the stage in front of a backward baseball hat crowd, the black-clad rockers could not have looked more out of place.

However, having just graduated from Rock 'n' Roll 101, Shinedown knew how to work the crowd.

They started off playing almost indistinguishable metal, which was just an appetizer to the main course.

The crowd of seemingly docile college kids went on a rampage when the band started playing songs from their newest album, Us and Them.

Lead singer Brent Smith had the gift of knowing exactly what the crowd wanted to hear. "This show is for you, and only you," he said. "So shake off anyone that brings you down or gives you a hard time."

The mosh ensued and Dr. Shinedown delivered the medicine. When the crowd needed to catch its breath, the band played its cover of "Simple Man," originally by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

But not before Smith had the BJC lit up with every lighter and cell phone in the building. It was the first time I had ever seen State College listen attentively to anybody (excluding Joe Paterno).

"I want to see the stars," he said.

For the final song, the crowd waited with baited breath, and when the band broke into "45," I bet the audience forgot about the headliner. Afterward, there was a massive seek-and-find in the crowd to reclaim missing socks.

After the set was transformed from a meager black curtain to a depiction of a working machine with rotating gears and flashing lights, 3 Doors Down looked ready to take the stage.

But not before a series of commercials were shown on the three giant projection screens. That was a first.

Like the stage, the show was transformed from a middle-finger-in-the-air rock show, to a corporate machine concert. How do the members of 3 Doors Down take themselves seriously?

Well, it is probably all the free beer they get from their sponsor, Bud Light.

When the band did take the stage, it was what everyone expected. Sadly, that was not enough.

They played their myriad of hits, but in a slow-fast-slow fashion. Unlike Shinedown, the guys from 3 Doors just would not let the crowd rock out. The band would bring audience members up with "Kryponite" and take them down with "Be Like That." It was like the time my roommate threw a bucket of ice water on me while I was taking a hot shower.

Needless to say, it was the first time I left a concert wanting to be three doors down and somewhere else.