Hinder, Saliva, Kelsey Hickman

Tower Theatre, Oklahoma City, OK

March 15, 2025

Review and Gallery by: Ally Arens

March 15, 2025 saw the end of Hinder’s “Back to Life” tour, concluding a month-long trek across the United States with a sold-out show at the Tower Theatre in their hometown of Oklahoma City, OK. Fellow 2000s rockers Saliva and country-rocker Kelsey Hickman were along for the ride, with all three acts bringing the heat for a night of camaraderie, debauchery, and an all-around good time. 
Solo artist Kelsey Hickman kicked off the festivities, and lit up the stage with her combination of soulful, country twang and a badass, rock-and-roll attitude reminiscent of fellow “y’all-ternative” artists such as Royale Lynn. Her set began with her single “Straight Up”, which rolled into a phenomenally fresh cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”. Other set highlights included a cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie”, as well as her most recent single “RBF”. Check out her Instagram to keep up to date with her releases and tour dates.

Next up to rock the house were Saliva, a band that I was very excited to see in honor of my 3-ish year-old self who would headbang to “Click Click Boom” in the car with my parents…or at least that’s what I’ve been told. They may not be the exact same band that they were 24 years ago – current singer Bobby Amaru joined in 2011 after the departure of Josey Scott, and founding guitarist Wayne Swinney unfortunately passed away in 2023 – but the current lineup is doing an amazing job of capturing the energy of the early days while also continuing to release and perform some kick-ass bangers such as “Time Bomb” and “Come Back Stronger.” Their 40 minute set was a great mix of newer jams and classic bangers, with hits such as “Always” and “Your Disease” making an appearance alongside an amazing medley consisting of “They Don’t Care About Us” from 2016’s Love, Lies and Therapy mashed with a bit of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer”. 

My personal favorite moment came during the aforementioned “Click Click Boom”, when the band brought up a trio of young girls onto the stage to represent “the next generation of rock & roll”. Seeing them headbang their little hearts out was extremely adorable and wholesome, and made me think of my own younger self.

Finally, a bit after 9:30, it was time for OKC’s own to take the stage – and they came out swinging with a trio of jams from their 2005 debut Extreme Behavior – “Get Stoned,” “Homecoming Queen,” and “How Long.” With their original lineup mostly intact – the only change being the band’s longtime collaborator Marshal Dutton stepping up to the vocal plate after the departure of Austin Winkler in 2013 – the show definitely felt like a family reunion of sorts as the packed venue sang along to all of our favorite older jams like “What Ya Gonna Do”, “All American Nightmare”, and, of course, “Lips of an Angel.” In addition to the older hits, the band didn’t hesitate to break out some new jams as well, such as recent single “Live Without It” and their next release, “Bring Me Back to Life,” which is due for release on March 28. 

While the Back to Life tour may have concluded, Hinder has more in store for 2025, including appearances at the Louder Than Life and Aftershock festivals this fall; all upcoming tour dates can be found on their website.