Tuesday, November 17, 2009
By Aaron Keker

Austin pulled it together and finished the show as if the hoarseness never occurred.

AUSTIN'S FUEL ROOM, Libertyville - I waited diligently for almost three years for Hinder to headline either in Chicago, the Northwest Suburbs or the Rockford area.

The last time that Hinder headlined was back on January 29, 2007 at the Congress Theatre in Chicago and on May 12, 2007 at the Rockford Metro Centre in Rockford, Illinois.

In the past two years, Hinder has supported 3 Doors Down and Nickelback in Tinley Park, Illinois.

The moment that I read that Hinder would be returning this year and headlining at Austin’s Fuel Room in Libertyville, Illinois on November 16, 2009, I was elated.

Hinder is one of those bands that I really enjoying covering because of their energetic enthusiasm.

Whether it is Austin trying to involve the audience with his hand gesture on “How Long” to involving the audience vocally during each song and finally to Hinder going back to their acoustic roots, Hinder always performs an amazing show!

The rock-filled evening was supposed to begin at 8:00 p.m. However, it started forty-four minutes later because The Veer Union had to cancel their performance. As the evening progressed, Faktion performed a cover of Hinder’s “Heartless.” I would have rather seen Austin and Hinder perform that song, however, Aaron Pose and the rest of Faktion did a decent job.

Hinder opened their enthusiastic evening with “Use Me.” As the audience sang alongside Austin, we were greeted with a green laser shooting around. Once again, like every other Hinder show that I have seen, Hinder received a standing ovation as each song concluded. The largest ovation of the evening occurred when “Lips of an Angel” concluded.

This is the first time that I have ever heard hoarseness in Austin’s voice. As Austin introduced the song “Heaven Sent,” his voice was a little hoarse but Austin pulled it together and finished the show as if the hoarseness never occurred.

A majority of Hinder’s set list contained songs from their latest album Take it to the Limit. Hinder performed “Use Me,” “Take it to the Limit,” “Heaven Sent,” “The Best is Yet to Come,” “Up All Night,” “Thing for You” and “Without You.”

The acoustic guitar playing of Blower and Austin alongside Austin’s vocals stole the evening. It started with Blower on the acoustic guitar as Austin belted out the vocals to “Better than Me.”

What then followed was the unthinkable! As Austin held the six-string acoustic, he started striking the strings and melodically sang “The Best is Yet to Come.”

Blower then jumped from acoustic to electric guitar on “Thing for You.” When I heard that song back on January 29th, I knew it would be a huge hit. In fact, it has over eight million plays on MySpace and is trailing only “Without You.” I was a little disappointed the audience did not sing the vocals as much as they did with “Born to be Wild,” “Without You,” “Lips of an Angel” and “Get Stoned.”

Hinder concluded their acoustic performance with Blower gradually switching between acoustic then electric and finally transitioning back to the acoustic guitar on “Lips of an Angel.”

Hinder always seems to amaze me with their stage presence and their overall energetic enthusiasm. Every Hinder show that I have attended, the audience had returned the reciprocal energy. Austin was correct when he remarked, “You guy’s been absolutely amazing tonight!” Austin, the audience was amazing because you guys were amazing! Below is the set list for Hinder’s performance at Austin’s Fuel Room in Libertyville, Illinois.

Austin’s Fuel Room:

1. “Use Me”
2. “Take it to the Limit”
3. “Heaven Sent”
4. “Better than Me”
5.  “How Long”
6. “The Best is Yet to Come”
7. “Up All Night”
8. “Thing for You”
9. “Born to be Wild”
10. “Without You”
11. “Room 21”

Encore:

12. “Lips of an Angel”
13. “Get Stoned”

akecker@alwaysacoustic.com