Review: Staind's Aaron Lewis Promotes Country Album With Acoustic Concert
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
And having been in the rock band Staind since the 1990s, Lewis certainly knows about loud music.
On May 5 at the Ford Theatre in Wabash, Lewis brought his solo act to help promote his country – yes, country – album “Town Line”. Between those songs, his stripped-down versions of Staind songs and covers of other artists’ work, the show ranks right up with my top 10 concerts of all time.
Not only did Lewis perform a great two-hour set, but he also joked and talked with the nearly sold-out crowd like he’d been to Wabash time and time again.
The stage was as minimal as the music instruments and band members. Besides the chairs and instruments, the only thing on stage with Lewis was an enormous American flag hanging in the background. He only had one or two other guys on stage with him during the course of the night. It made it feel like a very intimate concert, whether you were in the first row, ninth row or way in the back.
To everyone’s delight, Lewis started the concert with Staind’s recognizable “So Far Away”, just him and his guitar.
After the second song, Lewis brought out Ben Kitterman, who played the pedal steel guitar mostly for the rest of the concert. Kitterman used to drive Lewis’s tour bus, and after Lewis found out how great Kitterman played, Kitterman now rides on the bus instead of driving it.
“We’re going to go old school on you for a moment,” Lewis said as they started playing George Jones’ “Bartender’s Blues”.
The next song was a “new, original, newer than the record I just put out,” Lewis said, called “75”.
All through the night, Lewis interacted with the crowd, and sometimes the crowd was annoying with the things it shouted out, but Lewis took it in stride and had a few good laughs at the yellers’ expense.
He then played another new song off the Staind record. It’s the last song on the CD, he said, called “A Little Something to Remind You”.
One of the things that people in the audience kept yelling out was “Rooster”.
“This is for all the ‘Roosters’,” Lewis said before breaking into a little Neil Young, Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and Madonna’s “Crazy for You”.
He didn’t finish the songs, but he did them so well, the crowd enjoyed them enough, that he could have kept going.
For a couple of numbers, Kid Rock’s guitarist Kenny Olson sat in and played with Lewis.
“We’re going to play some songs off my new record if that’s OK with you,” Lewis told us as he started the set with “The Story Never Ends”.
“Massachusetts” was the second song, and then they played “Vicious Circles,” which instantly became one of my favorites. Lewis knows how to put his heart, his feelings on his sleeve for his music, and the best example of that is “Vicious Circles”. If you’ve never heard it, YouTube it. Really great song.
Before Olson left the stage, they concluded that part of the show with “Still Tangled Up In You”. While a Staind song, Lewis delivered it like a slow, country love song that a person could slow dance to with the one that they love.
Blake Shelton’s “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” was next on Lewis’ list before breaking into Guns N’ Roses, 4 Non-Blondes and Prince’s “Purple Rain”.
After that good, but silly song set, he started in on “Excess Baggage” by sarcastically introducing it as “one of the more happy upbeat songs I’ve written over the years.”
A listener can just feel the pain in the song as Lewis delivers it. The song feels deep and hurting.
After having a conversation with the crowd about what “Wabatucky” means, Lewis then got applause for his next song, Staind’s “I’m On the Outside”.
Before the next song, Lewis shared the story about the song.
He used to play the song 20 years ago, even before Staind was a band. He performed it in little bars, serving as the human jukebox, he said, from 9 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. He’d do covers, but mixed in his own originals.
When he played the song, people got up and left or went to the bathroom.
“I’m glad that didn’t deter me because this is the same song,” Lewis said as he started singing “It’s Been Awhile”.
“It’s Been Awhile” was a single from Staind’s 2001 “Break the Cycle” album. The song is probably the band’s best-known song, becoming a No. 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and their only song to reach the pop Top 10. The song spent a second-best 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and a then-record 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
After “It’s Been Awhile”, Lewis then dedicated the next song to everyone who loves the USA, “Country Boy”. “Country Boy” is the hit song off Lewis’s solo country album “Town Line”.
“Country Boy” was the last song of the concert, but with the crowd’s roaring approval, Lewis came back out for an encore. Just him, a stool and his guitar. He told the crowd to be more quiet than ever, though a few people in the crowd obviously didn’t think that meant them.[[In-content Ad]]After the lights went up and people started filing out, I couldn’t help think about what a great concert I had just witness. No banging drums, no amped up guitars, just a singer-songwriter and a couple of acoustic instruments.
And it all happened within 45 minutes of Warsaw, down in Wabash.
Amazing night.
And having been in the rock band Staind since the 1990s, Lewis certainly knows about loud music.
On May 5 at the Ford Theatre in Wabash, Lewis brought his solo act to help promote his country – yes, country – album “Town Line”. Between those songs, his stripped-down versions of Staind songs and covers of other artists’ work, the show ranks right up with my top 10 concerts of all time.
Not only did Lewis perform a great two-hour set, but he also joked and talked with the nearly sold-out crowd like he’d been to Wabash time and time again.
The stage was as minimal as the music instruments and band members. Besides the chairs and instruments, the only thing on stage with Lewis was an enormous American flag hanging in the background. He only had one or two other guys on stage with him during the course of the night. It made it feel like a very intimate concert, whether you were in the first row, ninth row or way in the back.
To everyone’s delight, Lewis started the concert with Staind’s recognizable “So Far Away”, just him and his guitar.
After the second song, Lewis brought out Ben Kitterman, who played the pedal steel guitar mostly for the rest of the concert. Kitterman used to drive Lewis’s tour bus, and after Lewis found out how great Kitterman played, Kitterman now rides on the bus instead of driving it.
“We’re going to go old school on you for a moment,” Lewis said as they started playing George Jones’ “Bartender’s Blues”.
The next song was a “new, original, newer than the record I just put out,” Lewis said, called “75”.
All through the night, Lewis interacted with the crowd, and sometimes the crowd was annoying with the things it shouted out, but Lewis took it in stride and had a few good laughs at the yellers’ expense.
He then played another new song off the Staind record. It’s the last song on the CD, he said, called “A Little Something to Remind You”.
One of the things that people in the audience kept yelling out was “Rooster”.
“This is for all the ‘Roosters’,” Lewis said before breaking into a little Neil Young, Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and Madonna’s “Crazy for You”.
He didn’t finish the songs, but he did them so well, the crowd enjoyed them enough, that he could have kept going.
For a couple of numbers, Kid Rock’s guitarist Kenny Olson sat in and played with Lewis.
“We’re going to play some songs off my new record if that’s OK with you,” Lewis told us as he started the set with “The Story Never Ends”.
“Massachusetts” was the second song, and then they played “Vicious Circles,” which instantly became one of my favorites. Lewis knows how to put his heart, his feelings on his sleeve for his music, and the best example of that is “Vicious Circles”. If you’ve never heard it, YouTube it. Really great song.
Before Olson left the stage, they concluded that part of the show with “Still Tangled Up In You”. While a Staind song, Lewis delivered it like a slow, country love song that a person could slow dance to with the one that they love.
Blake Shelton’s “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” was next on Lewis’ list before breaking into Guns N’ Roses, 4 Non-Blondes and Prince’s “Purple Rain”.
After that good, but silly song set, he started in on “Excess Baggage” by sarcastically introducing it as “one of the more happy upbeat songs I’ve written over the years.”
A listener can just feel the pain in the song as Lewis delivers it. The song feels deep and hurting.
After having a conversation with the crowd about what “Wabatucky” means, Lewis then got applause for his next song, Staind’s “I’m On the Outside”.
Before the next song, Lewis shared the story about the song.
He used to play the song 20 years ago, even before Staind was a band. He performed it in little bars, serving as the human jukebox, he said, from 9 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. He’d do covers, but mixed in his own originals.
When he played the song, people got up and left or went to the bathroom.
“I’m glad that didn’t deter me because this is the same song,” Lewis said as he started singing “It’s Been Awhile”.
“It’s Been Awhile” was a single from Staind’s 2001 “Break the Cycle” album. The song is probably the band’s best-known song, becoming a No. 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and their only song to reach the pop Top 10. The song spent a second-best 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and a then-record 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
After “It’s Been Awhile”, Lewis then dedicated the next song to everyone who loves the USA, “Country Boy”. “Country Boy” is the hit song off Lewis’s solo country album “Town Line”.
“Country Boy” was the last song of the concert, but with the crowd’s roaring approval, Lewis came back out for an encore. Just him, a stool and his guitar. He told the crowd to be more quiet than ever, though a few people in the crowd obviously didn’t think that meant them.[[In-content Ad]]After the lights went up and people started filing out, I couldn’t help think about what a great concert I had just witness. No banging drums, no amped up guitars, just a singer-songwriter and a couple of acoustic instruments.
And it all happened within 45 minutes of Warsaw, down in Wabash.
Amazing night.
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