It was a rainy Friday night in Orlando but that didn’t stop the crowd from packing into the House of Blues, Orlando to catch Aaron Lewis. You may be familiar with him from a little band called Staind who rocked thousands of faces for many years. These days he’s mostly doing his own thing. A little more country, and a lot more intimate, although, if you’re lucky, you can still catch him with Staind as well (I plan to in May at Welcome to Rockville in Daytona!)
My connection to Mr. Lewis dates way back to the first time I heard Staind in the mid ’90s. Instantly the lyrics spoke to me, paralleling my life. No matter what I had going on, Aaron’s deep, heartfelt voice always settled my weary soul. The truth remains the same today with his acoustic sets. Whether it’s an original such as “Lost and Lonely” or a cover such as Rascal Flatts “What Hurts the Most”, his vocals always touch me deeply.
The show was scheduled to start at 830 with Ben Danaher opening. The crowd began pouring in at 7:30. Bar tabs were opened and soon the beer was flowing. The buzz of the crowd was electrifying with lots of laughter and conversations, these guys were here for fun and ready to have a good time.
Ben took the stage right on time and the crowd cheered. I have never had the pleasure of seeing this musician perform before and I must say I was both surprised and very pleased. He was a one-man show performing a full acoustic set in front of this rowdy crowd and keeping them in the moment his entire performance. Towards the end of his set, he performed a fantastic cover of the late Keith Whitney’s “When You Say Nothing At All”. The crowd sang right along with him. I believe most would place him in the country music genre. I personally would place him in the heart and soul category, if there were such a category. You could tell that he put both heart and soul into his melodies. My only complaint was the crowd. They were so loud during his set that one couldn’t just fully enjoy his performance. That didn’t stop him, he came to perform and that’s exactly what he did.
Mr. Lewis strolled on stage at around 9:30pm with a cigarette dangling from his mouth Aaron Lewis, nonchalant with a crooked smile on his face and a hat that read (please excuse the language) “Re-elect That Motherfucker”. The audience erupted with cheers and what can only be described as “hootin” and “hollerin” (I had to dig deep into my southern roots for that!) He took the mic in his hand and told everyone in the audience to stand and remove their headwear. He then led the crowd in “The Pledge of Allegiance”, picked up his guitar, took a drink of what appeared to be whiskey from his cup and began playing.
The set opened with “Country Boy”, “Sinner”, and “Granddaddy’s Gun” and the fans sang along with every word. This was my first time seeing Mr. Lewis in this type of setting and it was definitely different than what I was used to, but it was definitely a good time. He was having fun and made it fun for everyone. Next, he played “It Keeps on Working”, a toe-tapping, country staple about being true to who you are, and the crowd was right there in it with him.
It slowed down a bit when Aaron talked a little about his music and his career. He then played “Right Here”, one of my absolute favorite songs that he has written and performed. It was nice to see and hear it played in this setting. Several more songs were played and as the set neared the end, Aaron treated the crowd again to a bit more conversation and then he played the song that started the mainstream blaze for Staind long ago. When he strummed the first set of cords, the crowd knew that “It’s Been Awhile” was on the menu. They sang along loudly and held nothing back. It was one of those great moments that you can only experience at a concert, where everyone becomes one voice and just disappears into the moment.
As I stated earlier, I have been an Aaron Lewis fan since around 1997. That’s when I heard the Staind album Tormented for the first time and was hooked. I felt we lived parallel lives and totally related to this guy. How did this musician know exactly how I felt? Fast forward 20+ years and I still feel like he is singing the lyrics of my life. I commend him for going back to his roots and being who he is, for standing up for his beliefs and sharing them proudly. He is true to himself and that’s all that matters, not what others might think about him.
This was definitely one of my favorite shows of the year, and I’ve added a whole menu of Aaron Lewis country to my playlist right next to the old school Staind tunes. His newest Album State I’m In is available everywhere – pick it up, download it, do whatever you do to grab some new tunes.
Enjoy these photos of Aaron Lewis and Ben Danaher performing on December 13th at House of Blues Orlando. All photos copyright and courtesy of Chris Cornett.
