For one day, Abstinence ruled over Anarchy

This must have been a dream! Civility at a Staind concert — what happened to the anarchy that occurs at The Venue in Hammond, Indiana?

For one day, abstinence ruled over anarchy! That abstinence energized Staind and they performed one of their best shows at The Venue, maybe even better than any Chicago show.

Staind maintained the status quo by performing the exact same set list as their Mount Pleasant, Michigan show, which was on May 29th.

Mike Mushok has been waiting to whip his locks with Staind so it should come as no surprise that he started the whip on “Eyes Wide Open.” Mike was pretty animating from the hair whip, to his guitar shredding and finally to jumping up in the air with his guitar like he was in Cirque du Soleil. Aaron Lewis and Johnny April were their usual selves, which is being very stoic in their stage presentation.

Staind could have opened with any song on May 30th, and the show would have kicked off in amazing fashion, but the fact that they opened with “Eyes Wide Open,” it kept the audiences’ eyes wide open to Staind’s performance. Staind killed it!

Staind performed fifteen songs, three of which were performed after the encore cheer.

Before Aaron Lewis started singing “So Far Away,” he remarked, “I wrote [this] song in a moment of desperation.” If Aaron Lewis wrote this song in a moment of desperation, maybe he needs to continue writing songs when he is desperate because this is one of Staind’s best songs that they performed, that evening, with such ease.

There’s something about the words “smoke a little weed” that fires up an audience. Aaron Lewis fired up the audience when he changed the lyrical line, “smoke a little weed” to “smoke a lot of weed.” Who knows, maybe someone sparked some weed during the song because it did smell a little bit like weed. Aaron even changed another line during his stepped down electric solo of “Country Boy” when he changed “government to hold my hand” to “Presidents to hold my hand”.

As the evening progressed, you got the feeling that you are better off being a guitar player like Mike Mushok or a bass player like Johnny April because there might be a Staind song written about you. Aaron Lewis remarked before “Not Again,” “it’s a song about a drummer.” Aaron Lewis screamed vociferously during the song and you could feel the anger that Aaron felt when he wrote this song.

After Staind performed “Outside,” Aaron Lewis said: “another song that I wrote about a drummer” and then Staind performed “Paper Wings.”

At the end of the evening, before the encore, Staind chilled it down several levels as they performed the melodic melody, “Something to Remind You.” Aaron Lewis held a high note when he hit “place” on the song. Staind reminded everyone that they are back with a vengeance and the rumor about their break-up can finally be laid to rest. When the song concluded, Staind left the stage for the encore.

Staind returned after the cheers and performed a three song encore starting with the fan favorite “Mudshovel,” then “It’s Been Awhile” before closing out their successful evening with “For You.”

It’s been a blessing to see Staind over the years and you have to be just grateful to see Aaron Lewis, Mike Mushok, Johnny April and now Sal Giancarelli performing again. Aaron Lewis’ last commentary of the evening was on “For You” when he said, “very blessed to play sixteen years for you.” Even though Aaron Lewis is stoic behind the microphone, the band brings this ethereal energy to every performance and that is why Staind will be around for another sixteen years.