The Stimulate This! package tour rolled into The Arena in Corbin, KY on Wednesday, July 22nd. Staind, Shinedown, Chevelle, Halestorm and Lo-Pro brought the rock to a respectable crowd of nearly 3,500 fans. A lucky call to the box office let me know that the show was starting at 6:25 as opposed to the advertised time of 7:00.
Lo-Pro hit the stage right as I hit the venue floor and delivered a short, yet energetic twenty-five minute set. The band, which includes former members of Godsmack and Ultraspank, has been sporadically active since their 2003 debut but showed no signs of rust. Lead singer, Pete Murray, thanked the small crowd who showed up in time to see Lo-Pro by calling them the bands heroes.
After a quick intermission, Lzzy Hales powerful voice could be heard from behind the stage, as she started Halestorms set with a powerful a cappella intro. Drummer Arejay Hale hit the stage wearing marching band gear, looking very Sgt. Pepper-ish and the band launched into Its Not You. Following the ballad Bet U Wish U Had Me Back, Arejay started a drum solo and was soon joined by his band mates. Lzzy, guitarist Joe Hottinger and bassist Josh Smith brought their own drums onstage and joined in the fun. The band closed with the sexy single I Get Off and received a thunderous response from the audience. Their set seemed all too short, as twenty-five minutes just isnt enough for this band.
Chevelle was up next, and were kind of a downer after such high-energy sets from Lo-Pro and Halestorm. There was little stage presence and even less interaction with the crowd. The band also seemed to be lost in a sea of red and yellow stage lights for most of their set. Opening with The Clincher, the band played a forty-minute set that was heavy with their best-known material such as Vitamin R, Send The Pain Below and The Red. They also sprinkled in a couple of songs from their forthcoming CD Sci-Fi Crimes, including the latest single Jars, which was met with a decent response. The set-closer I Get It couldnt have come any sooner as I was starting to zone out.
Thankfully, Shinedown was there to get things going again. Drummer, Barry Kerch, was onstage first, pounding out the intro to their latest single Sound Of Madness. Soon joined by the rest of the band, they rocked the crowd with a handful of hits from their first two albums, including Save Me, “.45” and “Heroes.” Singer Brent Smith was very interactive with the crowd, and his voice seemed to be a tad better than when I saw them a few months ago, if thats possible. Guitarist Zach Myers and bassist Eric Bass moved all over entire stage and didnt have “cement shoe” syndrome. The second half of the bands set consisted entirely of songs from their latest album. Smiths awesome vocals really shined on “If You Only Knew” and “Call Me.” After the rocking “Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide,” the band slowed things down a bit with their biggest hit to date,”Second Chance,” which brought the cigarette lighters and cell phones out in full force. “Devour” finished out the set, and as the band tossed out picks and sticks, the crowd showed their appreciation for the previous 50-plus minutes of rock.
Staind was up next to close out the show, opening with an abbreviated Star-Spangled Banner that led into two new songs, “Raw” and “This Is It.” The bands seventy-five minute set culled tracks from all six of their major-label releases and should have pleased both casual and hardcore fans. To no surprise, the ballads “Right Here” and “So Far Away” garnered the biggest crowd response. Singer Aaron Lewis voice was in fine form, and he played guitar for a good part of the set, tossing a lot of picks to the fans up front. Guitarist Mike Mushok jumped and banged his head for most of the set, but overall the band is unexciting to watch onstage. As with Chevelle, they seemed to be lost in the red and blue stage lights, and there was little interaction with the crowd. Musically, they sounded great, but I guess I’m into bands who play to the crowd more. Ending the main set with “For You”, Staind saved the best part of the show for the encore. Lewis strolled out to the soundboard, grabbed a guitar and chair and treated the fans to “It’s Been A While” and “Outside.” Prior to “Outside,” he mentioned that he wrote the song in front of 14,000 fans, referring to the first performance of the song during the Family Values tour in 1999. He returned to the stage and his band to finish out the set with the aggressive number “Mudshovel.”
Overall, the Stimulate This! Tour was very impressive and a great value for the ticket price. While many bands are charging $100+ for a show, you get five bands for around $40. My only complaint being that while Lo-Pro is listed on the tour website, they’re not shown in most advertisements and a lot of fans aren’t even aware they’re playing. Props to the organizers of the tour and to all the bands for participating and giving the fans more bang for their buck!
We would like to thank Kelly McWilliam from Atlantic records for allowing us to cover this event. For more information on this tour, go to: http://www.staind.com/.
