Live: Aaron Lewis / Alex Williams / Travis Marvin in Ft. Wayne, IN

  Fifteen minutes north of Ft. Wayne, IN in the middle of a strip mall lies a country bar of mammoth proportions called The Rusty Supr. Apart from the mechanical bull this spot hearkens back to my fond memories of  the film “Urban Cowboy”.  This being the case, it’s almost hard to envision a more fitting venue to host another sold out performance on Aaron Lewis’  long running Sinner Tour.  Joining Lewis on this portion of the cross country trek is Travis Marvin and Alex Williams. As the lights dimmed and Kansas native Travis Marvin took the stage, the smoke filled honky tonk became silent with anticipation.  Marvin, who has been known to play with a full band, is touring as a solo artist on this run which allows the listener to absorb the authenticity of Travis Marvin’s songwriting. As the next man up, Pendleton, IN native and current Nashville resident Alex Williams led his band to the stage. Williams, who plays a classic and authentic style of southern country music that, garnered an appreciative and enthusiastic response. As the opening sets came to a close those in attendance of this beer soaked and smoke stained honky tonk were lathered up and ready for the nights main attraction, Aaron Lewis. Lewis, who released his second full length country LP in September 2016, began his career and spent nearly two decades fronting rock band Staind. What’s amazing is that although a transition from rock to country music may not be unheard of, success typically is. Lewis can lay claim to that success by owning two #1 country records in Town Line and Sinner. As Aaron Lewis took the Ft. Wayne stage the crowd erupted with excitement.  Lewis known for his patriotism, called to the crowd to start the show off different by reciting The Pledge of Allegiance (which is a standard for every Aaron Lewis show). Lewis, normally a man of few words on stage until he gets “warmed up” let his music do the talking for the crowd of faithful fans in Ft. Wayne, IN with a set list that was heavy from his latest release Sinner, which was to be expected.  The interesting thing about an Aaron Lewis performance is the fact that he does numerous cover songs. Not your everyday covers but songs that you’re surprised to hear. Oh… and he is really good at them as well.  The song that grabbed me was a reworked version of the Foo Fighters hit; Everlong which brought me back to the realization that Aaron Lewis is a songwriter at heart regardless of what music genre he is playing. As with every time that I’ve seen Aaron Lewis live there are always a handful of attendees that weren’t aware that he was a country artist at present. It seems somewhat strange but after chatting several of them up on their opinions of the show the recurring response was positive.  Truth be told, Aaron Lewis has once again left his mark on a roomful of souls with his pensive and true to life songwriting abilities. Setlist
  • Cut You Down (Johnny Cash cover)
  • Pledge of Allegiance
  • Country Boy
  • Sinner
  • Northern Redneck
  • Mama
  • Right Here (Staind)
  • Granddaddy\’s Gun
  • The Road
  • Sunday Every Saturday Night
  • Everlong (Foo Fighters)
  • Whiskey and You
  • That Ain\’t Country
  • It\’s Been Awhile (Staind)
  • Lost and Lonely
  • Folded Flag
Encore
  • Open Arms (Journey)
  • Careless Whisper (George Michael)
  • What Hurts the Most
  • Schizophrenic Conversations (Staind)
  • Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi)
  • Lessons Learned
  • Outside (Staind)
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