Multi-platinum rock band STAIND will release its first album in nine years, “Live: It’s Been Awhile”, on May 7 via Yap’em/Alchemy Recordings.
The “Live: It’s Been Awhile” album will be accompanied by “The Return Of Staind”, a two-part global streaming series in partnership with Danny Wimmer Presents. The series launches with STAIND‘s “Live: It’s Been Awhile (From Foxwoods)” concert, which streams globally on May 1. The “Live: It’s Been Awhile” album and concert were recorded at the band’s comeback show at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut in October 2019. The never-before-seen concert celebrates the band’s reunion after a five-year hiatus.
“These were the first grouping of shows we played together in 2019, when we were gearing up for what was to be a very busy 2020…that never happened,” says STAIND lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis. “I’m glad we captured that energy here and can share it with those who couldn’t be at Foxwoods.”
STAIND will also perform its iconic multi-platinum 2001 album “Break The Cycle” in its entirety for a May 8 streaming event, exactly 20 years after the album’s release. The “20th Anniversary Of Break The Cycle, Performed In Its Entirety” takes place at Mill 1 in Open Square in Holyoke, Massachusetts, bringing the band back to their Western Mass roots. Please note, this is a fully virtual event, with no in-person attendance.
“Our first show together in 1995 was at a now defunct bar called the Waterfront in Holyoke,” says Aaron. “We played mostly covers, because that’s what you had to do back then. Turns out The Waterfront is two miles from where we did this. Here we are, two miles down the road, 26 years later, celebrating the anniversary of the album that helped us break though 20 years ago and altered our lives forever.”
Both global streaming events debut at 2:00 p.m. PDT / 5:00 p.m. EDT / 10:00 p.m. BST / 11:00 p.m. CEST on their respective days and will be available on-demand for 72 hours. Watch the official trailer for “The Return Of Staind” below.
Purchase tickets for one or both of the STAIND global streaming events at StaindLive.com. Fans can also purchase bundles and VIP experiences, including exclusive merchandise, a custom STAIND guitar autographed by the entire band, and a virtual meet-and-greet with the band.
After a five-year hiatus, STAIND roared back on the scene in 2019 with a series of electrifying live performances, including DWP‘s Louder Than Life and Aftershock festivals.
“‘Break The Cycle’ was huge — in 2001, it debuted at #1 with over 700,000 copies sold in its first week – but it’s more than just a hit record. It’s a defining moment for the genre, the way it flows from beauty to heaviness — and Aaron Lewis was the perfect instrument for those melodies, those lyrics. Nobody in the genre could match the dynamics of Aaron’s voice,” says Danny Wimmer, founder of Danny Wimmer Presents. “When STAIND came back in 2019, they sounded as good as ever, and the fan demand for what the band had planned for 2020 was through the roof. Now in 2021, there’s no way we were going to miss this opportunity to celebrate 20 years of such a pivotal record, and carry that momentum into the next era of STAIND.”
STAIND has released seven albums since 1995, the latest being the 2011 self-titled effort. The band has had a number of hit songs during its first two decades, including the Top 10 smash “It’s Been Awhile” from the No. 1 album “Break The Cycle”. Follow-up LPs “14 Shades Of Grey” and “Chapter V” also topped the Billboard chart.
In 2019, Lewis said that new STAIND material would likely sound “pretty brutal. It would be continuing back to how heavy we were to begin with, when ‘It’s Been Awhile’ and ‘Outside’ and ‘So Far Away’ and songs like that, that were radio songs, confused everything. ‘Cause if you came and saw us at a show, the show was a hell of a lot heavier than most of the songs that you would hear on the radio. And I would have to say that it would be going back in the direction of just heavy… I think I’ve got some pent-up stuff that would probably flow out quite nicely over some of Mike‘s [Mushok] heavy riffs.”
“Live: It’s Been Awhile” track listing:
01. Eyes Wide Open (Live)
02. Paper Jesus (Live)
03. Not Again (Live)
04. Fade (Live)
05. For You (Live)
06. Something (Live)
07. Intro (Live)
08. Crawl (Live)
09. Right Here (Live)
10. Outside (Live)
11. Paper Wings (Live)
12. So Far Away (Live)
13. Raw (Live)
14. It’s Been Awhile (Live)
15. Mudshovel (Live)
In 2020, Danny Wimmer Presents entered the digital content curation space, promoting pay-per-view livestreams and creating the popular digital series “Offstage With DWP”. DWP is known worldwide for their stellar portfolio of music and lifestyle events, which includes Aftershock, Bourbon & Beyond, Epicenter, Hometown Rising, Louder Than Life, Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival and Welcome To Rockville.
