Review: Aaron Lewis Returns To Honeywell Center On Country Music Path
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
WABASH – Aaron Lewis is best known for being the lead singer of rock band Staind, but his voice easily lends itself to the country music trail he’s now on. On March 28, he returned to the Honeywell Center in Wabash to help promote his first solo country full album “The Road,” which was released in November. In 2011, he released his country EP “Town Line,” and stopped by the Honeywell Center shortly thereafter to promote that. Dressed in a Jack Daniels T-shirt and jeans, Lewis appeared scruffy and long-haired, a noticeable big difference from the bald head he has sported for years with Staind. But even with all the differences between Staind Lewis and country Lewis, there’s one thing that is the same with him. He’s a storyteller who sticks to his personal beliefs whether you agree with him or not. In the song “75,” Lewis sang about being on the road so much and how all the hotels, bars and stretch limousines aren’t for him. After the song, like during most of the concert, people yelled out names of songs or artists that they wanted Lewis to play. “I’m going to play exactly what I want,” he responded. Like his past performance at Honeywell, Lewis bantered with the audience fairly all night – sometimes reacting to what the audience yelled out, sometimes just telling his own stories. For the fifth out of the twenty-two songs Lewis sang over the 2-1/2-hour set, he belted out “Granddaddy’s Gun.” It’s the only song on the new album Lewis didn’t write himself. Lewis said he first heard the song at a deer-hunting camp, and he wanted to record it as the 10th song on his album. “Blake Shelton also had thought of the song. I was a little miffed. But I guess that happens in country. It’s still going to be my next single whether Blake puts it out or not,” Lewis stated. Shelton watched Lewis play the song about two years ago. Before breaking into “Bartender’s Blues” for the next song, Lewis told the thousands of people at the show, “This seems like a pretty fitting place for this.” In his introduction to “State Lines,” Lewis said he wrote the first verse on a Wednesday about what he did on a Tuesday. Then it grew into a song what he’s been up to. After that song, his four band members left the stage so Lewis could go solo for several songs. When someone yelled out for him to sing Staind’s “It’s Been Awhile,” Lewis said that wasn’t going to happen. “Haven’t I done that enough? Haven’t you heard that enough?” he asked. Eventually, he played a snippet of Lionel Ritchie’s “Say You, Say Me,” and then Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.” The audience loved it, even when Lewis gave Lauper’s song his most girly voice. Of course, when Lewis broke into Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” after someone in the audience suggested it, much of the crowd also ate that up. I thought it was much better than Bon Jovi’s original. He couldn’t remember all of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” but the audience quickly forgave him as he went into Staind’s “So Far Away.” With just Lewis’ voice against the strumming of the acoustic voice, you could really feel the emotion in the song. His cover of “She’s All Lady” felt like it could have been a song Lewis wrote himself. My favorite song off “Town Line” has always been “Vicious Circles.” So when Lewis performed it at Honeywell, I realized how much I liked it and why. “If I could walk on water, like Jesus did before “If I knew all the answers, to keep you coming back for more, “If I could paint a picture, and then cut off my own ear, “If I chose all the right colors, would this just disappear? “Because, we run in vicious circles, “Until we’re dizzy with disdain, “And there’s miles and miles between us Yet we still remain.” Two songs later, Lewis said, “This next song is for anyone who puts their life on the line for this country past or present.” He then covered Alice In Chain’s “Rooster,” which drew a big positive reaction from the crowd. I also thought he did a remarkable rendition of the song, getting not only the words right but the tone and feeling behind the song right on. After the first dozen or so songs, Lewis had to take a quick break. That gave lead guitarist Solomon an opportunity to cover Buddy Miller’s “A Showman’s Life.” Just 22 and English, Lewis introduced Solomon by saying he doesn’t know how good he really is. After listening and watching his performance, I would definitely have to say Solomon is a prodigal guitarist. Back from his break, Lewis said, “This song is about what I believe, where I’m from and how I got this way.” He then broke into his song “Red, White and Blue,” which is exactly what it sounds like it’s about. Several songs later – including one happy one about taking his daughters to the beach – Lewis and the band actually performed “It’s Been Awhile.” He had a VooDoo drum beat to it with country twang in the guitar. It was the last song of the set, but, of course, an encore included three other songs. Lewis’ deep voice singing against the soft acoustics of the guitar emitted a strong emotional feeling to his cover of Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page.” While performing “Outside,” he told the story about how the song came to be. It was a song he wrote on the stage as he played it. It became one of Staind’s best known songs. Since he’s out promoting his country work, Lewis and his touring band concluded the encore with “Country Boy.” As the song ended, he held up a black “Don’t Tread On Me” flag that a couple of guys in the audience had waved about and then given to Lewis. Overall, the concert did seem to go on forever at times, but that’s because they played about 22 songs non-stop with lots of audience interaction and storytelling along the way. At times it was hard to tell who was having more fun - Lewis or the audience – but I can’t imagine any real fans of Lewis left unhappy. I’ve seen Lewis both times he’s performed at the Honeywell Center in the last two years. And while I may not 100 percent agree with everything Lewis believes in, the man knows how to put on an entertaining show with some great songs. He’s a natural storyteller, a key to being a successful country artist.
