I know my entries haven't been exactly timely, but to be truthful, my life here isn't nearly as glamorous as when I lived in Spain and was traveling Europe. I'm not going to bore you all with trivial details of my life, but I will highlight experiences that impact me. It just so happens that one of those experiences happened last week, June 20th. Let me tell you about it...
I saw Aaron Lewis June 20th in Wichita, KS. That's the event. That's the experience that this entire entry will be centered around.
However, I want to preface that event with a backstory. For those who saw my YouTube video (and actually read the description, lol), this will be repetitive, but it's important to me to repeat it.
Here we go... I traveled Europe with my best friend last summer. One of our stops was in Amsterdam. The highlight of our Amsterdam stop was seeing Pearl Jam at the Ziggo Dome. You can refer to my Pearl Jam and Amsterdam entries for a deeper look into those experiences, but I want to highlight (again) my favorite part of the Pearl Jam experience. According to Pearl Jam's website today (June 27, 2013), Release has been played live 132 times. I was fortunate enough to see one of those times in Amsterdam and I was in awe. I LOVE the song and when Eddie performs it, you just FEEL the passion and emotion behind it. I know everyone develops their own connections with songs, lyrics, musicians, etc. I developed a connection with Release when I first heard it. And it is something I will not ever lose. I'll take it to my grave. Below is the link for my Pearl Jam YouTube video of Release. The video itself isn't top notch by any means, but if you close your eyes and listen... it's incredible. In my opinion.
Fast forward to April 2013. I got this new app on my phone. It's called Bandsintown. It is an app that tells you any and all artists in whatever location you desire. I mean that it tells you local musicians playing at local bars to the best of its ability. It also syncs with my music library and highlights the artists I have in there. This is where I first saw Aaron Lewis was on tour. I had actually mentioned not a month before that I would LOVE to see him live. He'd be on my bucket list of musicians to see. I quickly typed in my areas and found that he was going to be in Wichita. I immediately purchased tickets. 6 to be exact. I hadn't even made plans with anyone else to go with me, I just knew I was going -with or without anyone else- I'd worry about that later.
I had seen a YouTube video of Aaron covering Release. It was in 2008, I believe. Putting that song with his incredible voice was like a mixture made in heaven. I knew that I just HAD to see it live. About a month and a half before the show, I got it stuck in my mind that I would tweet to Aaron Lewis every day asking him to cover Release for me. I'm realistic, I knew it was a long shot, but that didn't stop me from trying. And it worked. He replied to a tweet after about a week and told me to keep reminding him. LOL-that was probably his mistake, haha. I sent him a tweet every single day, sometimes two or three times a day. He replied again a week later keeping my hope very much alive. Then, it wasn't until the night before the show that he replied again. You could say I was pretty confident he would cover it for me. The night of the show, a couple hours before he went on, I got two more replies from him! I was SO incredibly pumped!! The opening acts were very energetic and fun, but I could not wait for them to get off stage so Aaron could come on!
I listened to Staind and fell in love with Aaron's voice a long time ago. I heard 'Country Boy' and knew I'd love his country endeavor as well. His passion, his courage and conviction to stand behind everything he says, his leadership and devotion to his family and his country - I could list a hundred different reasons to follow this guy, but I don't need to. His music speaks for itself. I got his Town Line EP. I gotta say, if I ever get married, I have a feeling Tangled Up in You will be involved in that wedding somehow. The Road, which is the album he was touring for, was also great. I have my favorites on that album, too, - Granddaddy's Gun (reminds me of growing up country), Lessons Learned - the whole damn album! When I heard his cover of 'What Hurts the Most,' Oh. My. Gawd. I could FEEL it.
Aaron Lewis live is honest. Raw. You get what you see and if you don't like it, well, fuck off. Of my concert experiences, his has been the closest to hearing it as it is on the album. I never took my eyes off him. I just watched him do what he went there to do. There were no flashing lights, no big bangs or special effects to 'wow' the crowd, no obnoxious requests to have the crowd 'repeat after him' or scream as loud as they can. In fact, he didn't move from the center of the stage except for when he was entering or leaving the stage. I was fortunate enough to be front row center. I had a prime view for an incredible performance.
I had my sign that had 'Release' on it, just in case my hundred texts weren't reminder enough. I made eye contact with him as I readied my sign to put up. When I heard the intro to Release, I seriously started shaking. I had my camera ready at the end of almost every song in case Release was going to be the next one. Honestly, I was hoping for a little shout out, haha - maybe as that annoyingly persistant tweeter, but a shout out none-the-less. After the show, however, I realized that the whole 'what you see is what you get' thing is exactly that. He rarely talked in between songs. He did what he came to do. And when he was done, he was done. And he did it well. Anyway, when I heard that Release intro, I gave my camera to my friend to do the recording so I could just focus. He was covering Release. For me. It was incredible. Unbelievable. I have seriously watched the video multiple times daily just to keep riding my high. Below is the video my friend shot for me with my phone. It is me yelling "Thank You!" in the middle of my favorite verse (verse 2) and it is me he smiles at.
I read reviews of previous shows and some of them were very disappointing and a little disturbing. Some people didn't even know they were going to see country songs performed (and were angry that he had the nerve to play these songs) and to those people, I am just shocked that they don't follow Aaron Lewis close enough to know that this is the path he is currently on. I get that people have a connection with his Staind roots - that's where mine started, too. But that's not where he's at right now and his voice is still that amazingly deep, passionate, silky voice. It's still Aaron Lewis. I guess I'm just saying if you like someone, truly, then you like them and you support whatever road they take. You don't have to like the type of music, but you sure as hell don't have the right to criticize someone for following their own passion. Soapbox done.
I think the show was awesome. My friends (I had no trouble finding takers for my tickets) and I still talk about the show and are considering getting tickets for his Kansas City performance in August. Maybe I'll start a new tweeting venture to try and see Simple Man this time. I feel like he would do an incredible justice to an amazing Skynyrd song.
I know that he isn't likely to read this, but I would like to thank Aaron Lewis for making his show an impacting experience in my life and for covering Release for me. Like many experiences that impact my life, I tend to get a tattoo reflecting that experience. I've got ideas running through my mind about what I could do to reflect this experience. Maybe I'll add to my Release piece. Hmmmmmm
I bid you farewell. I enjoy writing entries for my own personal benefit and reflection. I need to get back into it... Maybe I will... Until then...
"I'll ride the wave where it takes me"
