Hinder HOB Review

Tuesday, February 15, 2011
By Aaron Keker

HOUSE OF BLUES, Chicago – Yesterday, Hinder made a triumphant return to the Chicago House of Blues on Valentine’s Day! The last time that Hinder performed in the City of Chicago was back on January 29, 2007 at the Congress Theatre.

Originally, Hinder was supposed to perform at the House of Blues in 2007, but it was moved to the Congress to accommodate the Hinder faithful.

It couldn’t have been a better evening on February 14th; temperature in the 40’s and romance was in the air.

Hinder performed half of their set list from All American Nightmare. They entertained the Chicago House of Blues with “2 Sides of Me,” “What Ya Gonna Do,” “Striptease,” “All American Nightmare,” “Hey Ho,” “Waking Up the Devil” and “Put that Record On.”

Hinder may have a reputation of a band that likes to have fun, but there is an intelligence to their madness besides the party persona.

Hinder observed Valentine’s Day like everyone else, but they managed to incorporate their intellect by including a partial holiday theme into their performance.

The admiration of the many fans at the Chicago House of Blues started the moment Hinder walked onto the stage and Austin Winkler remarked, “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Hinder opened their evening with Mark King playing a Reverse Flying V guitar on “2 Sides of Me.”

Besides the V guitar, Blower performed with either a red or red double neck guitar and Mike Rodden performed with a red bass on “What Ya Gonna Do,” “Lips of an Angel,” “Waking Up the Devil,” “Room 21,” “Put that Record On” and “Get Stoned.” Hinder incorporated not only this musical instrument theme, but they performed fourteen songs on February 14th.

Hinder still managed to perform songs about one night stands, infidelity and failed relationships, but they kept those songs to a minimum. I wished they would have performed “Thing for You” because it would have been a better fitting song for the evening than “Room 21.”

During “Room 21,” Blower clapped his hands and the audience followed. Austin proceeded to introduce his bandmates as he remarked, “Hinder is a band that likes to have f***ing fun!”

Austin sang “Striptease” with as much anger as the song was originally recorded. As Austin danced during the song, he gracefully tossed the microphone and proceeded to catch it.

After Hinder returned from the encore cheer, Austin remarked, “Chicago this party ain’t over yet!” Hinder performed “Put that Record On” and closed with “Get Stoned.”

Hinder’s next single from All American Nightmare will be “What Ya Gonna Do,” which Austin confirmed.  I’ve covered Hinder for four years and I hope to cover them another four because their performances are never dull. If Hinder can entertain an audience by having them dance in the aisles, including a husky security guard, they must be doing something right! Hopefully, it will not take Hinder another four years before they return to the City of Chicago.

Chicago House of Blues Set List:

1.  “2 Sides of Me”
2.  “Up All Night”
3.  “Use Me”
4.  “What Ya Gonna Do”
5.  “Striptease”
6.  “Better than Me”
7.  “How Long”
8.  “All American Nightmare”
9.  “Hey Ho”
10. “Lips of an Angel”
11. “Waking Up the Devil”
12. “Room 21”

Encore:

13. “Put that Record On”
14. “Get Stoned”