Sister Hazel emerged from Gainesville, FL in the midst of the alt rock boom of the mid-1990’s. While the band fit in with their contemporaries, they also stood apart by bringing in a southern flair and a bit of the jangle pop that defined Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, their Gainesville heroes. More than thirty years later, the band still puts out vibrant, fresh music with the same lineup and lights up stages everywhere. Sister Hazel brought their summer tour to the Mohegan Sun Wolf Den which was the perfect venue for the band and its fans.
Please scroll below for the MisplacedStraws Sister Hazel live photos and review.
The Wolf Den is a unique venue. It is an open venue right in the middle of a thriving casino, so bands can be heard and seen on the gaming floor, not just in the immediate seating area. This unusual setup usually leads bands to change up their sets as they begin to draw in people who may not have originally come to see the show. Sister Hazel has been on tour most of the summer but definitely changed things up for this show. Guitarist, and singer Drew Copeland started the night off alone at the piano for a moving version of their 2006 hit “This Kind of Love”. That was followed by guitarist Ryan Newell performing a solo acoustic guitar piece. For the third song, those two members were joined by singer and guitarist Ken Block for a take on “Your Winter”, the band’s contribution to the 1999 seminal soundtrack to the film “10 Things I Hate About You”. Finally, bassist Jett Beres and drummer Mark Trojanowski joined, and the full band kicked in.
Watching Sister Hazel, a few things are readily apparent, first is that the band sounds amazing. Newell is a great guitarist and adds an interesting flavor and spin to every song. Second is that even after 30 years, this band has fun. Members play with an infectious enthusiasm that keeps the crowd interested and moving the entire night. At one point, Block jumped into the crowd for a song and took selfies with nearly every member of the audience. This is a band that appreciates its audience as much as the audience appreciates them.
Sister Hazel is one of the few bands with multiple singers, and those different voices keep the set fresh. Copeland and Block handled most of the vocals, but Newell took the lead and provided some great slide guitar work on a cover of “Rocky Mountain Way”, while bassist Jett Beres sand the lead vocal on “Complicated You” from the band’s last record, 2024’s Sand, Sea & Crash Debris.
Ken Block, whose voice is heard on most of the band’s biggest hits, “All For You”, “Swan Dive”, “Happy”, and others, developed muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) a little while back and it still affects his voice. As the show went on, there was a noticeable strain when he spoke or sang, but he powered through it. As those big hits were played the audience was more than happy to help out with the singing. You definitely felt for the singer as he struggled a bit, but it didn’t dampen his enthusiasm or take away from the show at all.
Sister Hazel may not be the radio staple they once were, but that doesn’t keep them from putting out new music or hitting the road to play before appreciative audiences. There are a number of bands from that era that casual fans would consider one- or two-hit wonders, but in reality, they have deep, rich catalogs of songs that actually got better over the years. Sister Hazel is one of those bands. If you remember the 90s hits, check out the later work, or better yet, take a “Swan Dive” and catch the band live, you won’t regret it!
