On June 25th, The Station Breaks kicked off their East Coast tour and I was fortunate enough to get to see them on June 29th when they stopped in Richmond, Virginia and performed at the Tin Pan.
I bought my tickets months before the show rolled around – the day they went on sale if I recall correctly – and I could not have been more excited. I’ve seen Rob Benedict’s other band Louden Swain perform a few times, along with Jason Manns, but I’d never been to an actual Station Breaks show because flying across the country to see them unfortunately wasn’t in the cards at the time. Needless to say, I snapped the tickets up and proceeded to text everyone in my contacts list that The Station Breaks were coming to town and I was going.
Hayden Lee joined the Station Breaks as their opening act, and while I hadn’t previously heard his music, a few songs in I knew I definitely needed to give him a listen. An old friend of Jason’s, Hayden had joined the band on a few stops, and Virginia was his last show of the tour. He played us a few of his own original compositions- my favorite was “The Traveler“. For this song, Hayden told us that he would need the audience’s participation for one of the verses, and even though for many of us this was our first time hearing the song, everyone joined in and really enjoyed it. Hayden also did an amazing acoustic version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”. Hayden closed our his set with another of his songs “Revolution.”
A few moments after Hayden left the stage, Jason, Rob, Billy, Cooper, and Kiel all filed out to the stage amidst cheers and clapping. The guys quickly picked up their instruments and launched into their first song of the night “The Slightest Thing”.
Rob and Jason told us stories about spending time with Jason – a Virginia native – and his family, and how when Rob needed to relax and take a breather, he would imagine the scenery he had seen in Virginia.
The set list included some of my favorite Station Breaks songs including “The Rest” and “Autumn Back”, but the band also played “Amazing” by Louden Swain. Hayden also took the stage again for a few songs, including a fan favorite “Wagon Wheel”. I know these songs by heart, and hearing the guys talk about what the songs were about, and what they meant to them made them even more special. Though, I think the highlight of the night was when Rob sang “Fare Thee Well”. He introduced the song by telling us how much it meant to him and how special it was for him to perform it on Supernatural. This was the first time I’ve experienced Rob singing that in person and the only way I could describe it would be as powerful. He got so into the song at one point he pulled the chord out of his microphone. But, he and Jason switched places and he never missed a note. Also, hearing Billy perform the guitar solos in “The Rest”, “Amazing” and “Come Together” was incredible. He is so much fun to watch when he plays.
After the show was over, we stuck around the venue and I got to talk to Jason, Rob and Billy for a bit and though the show was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, that was definitely the highlight of the night. If you’ve ever been to a Supernatural convention that these guys are at, or have met them at one of their shows before, you know how nice and genuine they really are, and speaking with them was what truly made the night and I am sincerely grateful to them for that.
See some of my photos of the show below!
