Break the Cycle 25th Anniversary Tour: Staind Live @ Darien Center
Pure 2000s rock nostalgia was unleashed last Saturday night as Staind brought the Break The Cycle 25th Anniversary Tour to the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien Center, New York. Joining them for a powerhouse lineup were Seether, Hoobastank, and Hinder. Despite a cloudy sky and insane traffic leading up to the venue, fans turned out in full force for the sold-out show. Attendees of all ages packed the amphitheater, filling both the lawn and the "shell" from wall to wall.
Kickstarting the night was Hinder, an American post-grunge and hard rock band formed in Oklahoma City in 2001. The current band lineup features Marshal Dutton, Joe "Blower" Garvey, Mike Rodden, and Cody Hanson. Over the years, Hinder has released six studio albums, with their most recent full-length effort, "The Reign," arriving in 2017, followed by last year's collaborative single "UNSTOPPABLE" with No Resolve. Growing up, I primarily knew them for their #1 smash hit, "Lips Of An Angel." Hinder delivered an energetic 7-song set that had the crowd fully engaged. During their third song, "Without You," the singer brought out an acoustic guitar and tapped into the crowd's energy, asking if anyone had an ex they just wanted to flip off before diving into the track. When they played "Lips Of An Angel," excitement surged through the venue as fans waved their hands in unison and sang along at the top of their lungs.
Taking the stage next was Hoobastank, who delivered a nostalgic 9-song set featuring a crowd-pleasing mix of tracks. Highlighting the performance, the lead singer Doug Robb leaped off the stage onto the amps by the barricade to fist-bump fans in the front. Doug also shouted out “HEY TIM” to a Western NY local, Tim The Truth & at the end of Hoobastank’s set Doug personally gave Tim a setlist. In a heartwarming moment, the bassist Jesse Charland’s 3-year-old grandson joined the band on stage, strumming along on a miniature guitar. Before launching into "The Reason," the entire amphitheater lit up with a sea of cellphone flashlights. The band wrapped up their high-energy set with back-to-back crowd favorites, "The Reason" and "Crawling in the Dark.”
Seether set the stage with dark vibes and heavy riffs, singer & guitarist Shaun Morgan’s mic stand was adorned with creepy dolls and Jigsaw’s head, a homage to the SAW movie franchise, which gave the stage an eerie edge. Seether kicked off the set with “Pride,” which was featured on their very first album, Disclaimer. During the set, I couldn’t stop watching Dale Stewart leave it all on the stage. The absolute non-stop energy, rocking the bass all night long. They played older songs, such as “Driven Under” & “Country Song.” They closed the night out with “Remedy.”
The last band to take the stage, bringing a wave of excitement over the crowd was Staind. The clock starts the countdown 2 minutes before the band started playing. You could see fans from all angles, ready to see what Staind has to offer. The screen brought back old clips from earlier in their career. These also included rock legends, which included Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington. After all, this is the 25th Anniversary of Break The Cycle. Stained played 13 songs, don’t worry. It wasn’t just songs from Break The Cycle. They had to sprinkle in some other hits; they brought it all the way back to 2003, with “So Far Away” & 2008 “Raining Again.” You could hear the echo of the fans singing back to the band no matter where you were standing. This isn’t going to be a Staind show without an encore. The band came back out with the number one song “It’s Been A While.” To close out the night, they didn’t end with just one song. They ended the night with “Mudshovel” (originally on 1996's Tormented but popularized on Dysfunction).
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