Aaron Lewis played a solo show on Wednesday night (July 21st) in Dewey Beach, Delaware, and at one point realized he was playing the Staind hit “It’s Been Awhile” for the second time during the set. The singer admitted he was “drunk” and “smoked a little too much weed.”
The outspoken right-wing vocalist sported a “F**k Biden” T-shirt and an “Impeach Biden” hat as he let the audience do most of the singing on the second performance of “It’s Been Awhile.” After playing the song for a few minutes, he stopped to address the crowd: “You know what I’m realizing right this second? That I’m drunk enough that I should be playing ‘Outside’ right now, and instead I’m playing a f**king song I already played tonight. Which means I might be slightly over-served.”
He continued, “So should I play the f**king song that I was supposed to be playing the whole f**king time? Because maybe I might have smoked a little bit too much weed tonight. I will say that’s a first. That’s a first right there… I’ll hear about that one tomorrow.”
Lewis went on to perform “Outside,” and again let the audience do most of the singing.
Meanwhile, Lewis recently officially released his new right-wing anthem “Am I the Only One.” He made headlines earlier this year when he started to play the song live. It features lines like, “Are you tellin’ me/ That I’m the only one, willin’ to fight/ For my love of the red and white/ And the blue, burnin’ on the ground/ Another statue comin’ down in a town near you/ Watchin’ the threads of Old Glory come undone.”
And the tune even disses the left-leaning Bruce Springsteen: “Am I the only one/ Who quits singing along/ Every time they play a Springsteen song.”
The track has quickly rocketed to the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and has been defended by Big Machine Label Group head Scott Borchetta, who stated, “Aaron Lewis and I have political disagreements. But there are also things we agree on. I think that’s the foundation for the idea of our country. It doesn’t work if we’re so divided that we can’t reach across the aisle, have a conversation or an argument, and ultimately, shake hands. If we can’t do that, and this moment is so divisive, we may never get our country back.”
Lewis is sure to perform both “It’s Been Awhile” and “Outside” when he hits the road with Staind next month on a U.S. tour with Korn. The outing will mark Staind’s first proper tour after breaking a long hiatus with a few shows in 2019.
Watch Lewis drunkenly interact with the crowd and sing “It’s Been Awhile” for the second time at his show last night, followed by a performance of his aforementioned new liberal-bashing tune “Am I the Only One.”
