Hinder

Fans cheer as Hinder performs at the Cain's Ballroom. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World

Bluster and ballads
By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
3/3/2007

Hinder's fans shrieked and clapped their way through the Wednesday performance.

Hinder's singer, Austin Winkler, wore a long red scarf around his neck Wednesday night during the band's show at the Brady Theater.

But it wasn't cold. He swayed and pranced with his shoulders scrunched up and his wrists limp, shirtless but wearing a black vest and moving from one side of the stage to the next. Following opening sets from Black Stone Cherry and Finger Eleven, Oklahoma city's hit rock quintet took the stage to "How Long," while the band's logo glowed from a large metal riser in the center of the stage.

"It sure is great to be back in Oklahoma, that's for sure," said Winkler, introducing the song, "Bliss," from the group's debut album, "Extreme Behavior." "This next song is about getting (expletive) up so you don't have to think about your ex-girlfriend."

Hinder, which sold about 1.8 million copies of "Extreme Behavior," eschews rock pretension and sophistication in favor of the machismo and bombast of their influences, including Aerosmith. Hinder wants to bring the fun back into rock, the band has said.

What Hinder lacks is the songwriting that its influences drew upon. Hinder also falls into a modern-rock trap, writing songs that deviate little from the ballad loving, soft verse/big chorus repeat formula milked ad nauseam by bands from Puddle of Mudd to Nickelback.

Unlike those bands, Hinder makes some attempt at fashion sense -- Winkler's scarf would make several appearances Wednesday night and the drummer wraps his curly red locks in a blue bandana while guitarist Joe "Blower" Garvey's hair is done up bigger than the ozone layer. And this band has bluster, ballads and a singer who seems to have only two gears: rock and roll-scream and raspy mid-range.

Part of the problem with Hinder is that it relies on a series of cliches in its music.

But Hinder's fans love the band, which was evident Wednesday as the sold-out crowd shrieked and clapped their adulation, singing back the words as the band strutted and posed onstage.

Women in the audience threw their bras up onto the stage and the band members draped them over theirmicrophone stands. Winkler's stand had the most. Roadies scurried the stand on and off the stage as more additions to his collection sailed by.

The band played with an energy that comes with performing for a near-hometown crowd, evident in the highlight performance of the night, its cover of Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight." While Hinder's version differed little from the original, the band's drunken swagger and attitude added an exaggerated strut to Money's ditty demanding a late-night liaison.

Also wowing the crowd was Hinder's bald-faced rip-off of Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Homecoming Queen." Hinder's song closely resembles the intro to GNR's hit and the chords in the verse do, as well.

Winkler slithered back and forth across the stage, guitarist Joe "Blower" Garvey often climbed the stairs to the lit-up riser, standing over the drum kit with his legs apart and his guitar slung low.

At one point in the show, Garvey grabbed a beer bong and poured a stream of Jagermeister into drummer Cody Hanson's mouth, while Winkler commented on it to the audience.

"Rock and roll is all about having a good (expletive) time, right?" Winkler said.

Signaling the time for lighters and quiet, the band set out acoustic guitars and stools for the intimate ballads, including the hit song "Lips of an Angel" ("We didn't know if there'd be that many people who'd related to this song," Winkler said).

The piano ballad "Running in the Rain," which Winkler said didn't make it onto "Extreme Behavior," was botched by an off-key acoustic guitar solo from Garvey.

That said, it's great to see Oklahomans doing well in the music business.

And Hinder put on a show, complete with lights and charisma. Certainly, performance is a big part of rock and roll, especially for bands such as Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses.

Those bands had their moments when they were vain, their lyrics were juvenile and their music overheated. But, they balanced that with classics such as "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Coma" or "Don't Cry."

Hinder seems to be all the bad moments of its influences rolled into one and no amount of slick production, preening and pretty clothes can cover that.

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Matt Elliott 581-8366
matt.elliott@tulsaworld.com