Dancing with the Devil: Breaking Benjamin, Daughtry, and Staind Give Incredible Performance

As the lights went down at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, the crowd went wild as the next few hours were sure to bring some of the best times listening to 3 phenomenal rock bands.

Daughtry

Daughtry started the night with a bang by performing the song “The Reckoning” off their brand-new EP Shock to the System (Part One). The band quickly dove into some old favorites, playing “It’s Not Over,” “Home,” and “Over You.” The crowd energetically sang along to every song. They only got louder as they finished their set with “Heavy is the Crown.”

Staind

Photo by Ambria Siska for CoogRadio

Staind started off with a bang with the song “Lowest in Me.” Aaron Lewis gave an emotional performance, while their guitarist Mike Mushok brought all of the energy to the stage (and all of the hair). Lewis quickly grabbed his guitar, designed to look like the American Flag and played a few songs, such as “Right Here” and “Not Again.”

Many of their songs were accompanied with insane graphics on the screen behind the band. At one point the screen even showed a wall of old T.V.’s like you might’ve seen at Radioshack 20 years ago. All the while the crowd was screaming along to all of their favorites from over the years.

Photos by Ambria Siska for CoogRadio

Aaron Lewis stopped to interact with the crowd after a few songs, and had everyone applaud for the band Lakeview – who had been on tour with them but hadn’t played in Houston. The crowd cheered for them anyway, and Lewis laughed it off and had everyone. cheer for Daughtry next. He also talked about how grateful they were to be on tour with Breaking Benjamin, and how far they’ve come since their first tour 20 years ago – where they opened for Staind. It felt like a full circle moment for everyone in the venue.

From there, the band played a couple of their greatest hits, “So Far Away” and “It’s Been Awhile.” At the end of these songs Lewis commented how loud the crowd was singing along with them, stating that Houston had been the loudest crowd of the entire tour. They finished off the set with the iconic song “Mudshovel.”

Breaking Benjamin

Photo by Ambria Siska for CoogRadio

By the time Breaking Benjamin took the stage, the place was packed, and there was a certain buzz in the air as the anticipation skyrocketed for this band. The band started with lights way down low and sang “Failure” which had the crowd going wild. They never stopped as the band moved into playing “Until the End” and “Red Cold River.” Lead singer Benjamin Burnley has a unique way of pouring his heart and soul into his songs. Every single one he played you could feel the pain or any other emotion that was behind it when it was originally written, even if it had been 20 years since the song was written.

Burnley stopped at one point and commented on how loud and energetic the crowd was, encouraging everyone to be even louder as they started playing some of their older songs including “Dance With the Devil,” “Dear Agony,” and “I Will Not Bow.” You can tell how moved by the music the crowd was with people screaming at the top of their lungs, and some dancing or headbanging with all their energy. It was truly a sight to see.

Photos by Ambria Siska for CoogRadio

Breaking Benjamin also had some insane graphics on the screen behind them, most of them highlighting their album covers over the years in some way or another. During “I Will Not Bow” part of the lyrics flashed on the screen to further emphasize them.

The band finished off the night with arguably their greatest song, “The Diary of Jane.” By then, you could hear the crowd singing even in the streets outside of the venue.

All 3 bands put on an incredible show, and one no one will forget anytime soon.