The concept of “divorced dad rock” has evolved from a running joke into an honest revival of bands experiencing a nostalgia resurgence. OKC band Hinder approached this resurgence with vigor on their Back to Life Tour as they stopped at The Van Buren to kick things off this week.
Local opener CZYK brought friends, family and fans out early for their high energy brand of hard rock and certainly got the crowd excited for both their set and the rest of the show. The band made the most of their time onstage, ripping through “Kill the Flame”, “Forever & Always” and more. They were followed by Kingdom Collapse as they performed their bass-heavy set at a sprint to really hype up the audience.
Southern heavy rock band Saliva has overcome lineup shakeups and profound loss over the years but their live set was incredibly powerful. The audience was audibly thrilled when the band took the stage and they left it all on the table for this first night of a lengthy tour. They had 10 songs to wow the crowd, including “Time Bomb” and “Always”. Saliva also threw in a medley of covers that ranged from Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” to Linkin Park’s classic “One Step Closer”. It wouldn’t be a proper Saliva set without one of their biggest hits and the venue shook with the force of the audience singing the chorus to “Click Click Boom”.
Weeknight aside, Phoenix was ready to party and the alcohol was flowing when Hinder finally emerged and jumped right into “Get Stoned” to mix up their setlist for this tour. The band hasn’t released a full album since 2017 but no second act would be complete without a new album announcement and a performance teeming with new music- including upcoming single “Bring Me Back to Life” and “Live Without It”.
The first night of any tour inevitably brings technical difficulties and back to school jitters and Hinder weathered all of the above like the seasoned professionals they are. Singer Marshal Dutton cracked jokes and kept the audience entertained between songs and delivered powerful vocals throughout the set. The performance stretched late into the evening before ending with the 2005 hit “Lips of an Angel”- a song that had the entire room screaming along to lyrics about infidelity (a fact not lost on the band as they grinned through the final notes). The Back to Life Tour is officially underway and audiences across the country are more than ready to welcome Hinder back to the stage.
