Staind Celebrate 25 Years of Break the Cycle at Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre

I’ve covered a lot of shows at RBC Amphitheatre, but this one had been circled on the calendar for months. Break the Cycle turns 25 this year, and Staind brought the whole tour built around it to Toronto.

On Monday, September 21, 2026, Staind brought their Break the Cycle 25th Anniversary Tour to a sold-out RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto, with Hinder, Hoobastank and Seether along for the ride.

For me, the night started well before Staind took the stage.

Live Nation had provided the photography restrictions ahead of the show, giving me the opportunity to photograph all four bands, although each came with its own position in the venue. Hinder were photographed from FOH for their first three songs, Hoobastank and Seether gave photographers access to the pit for their opening three songs, and Staind were photographed from FOH for their first three.

It made for an interesting night behind the camera, moving between FOH and the pit while trying to take in as much of the show as possible.

Hinder

Hinder hit the stage at 6:00 PM, opening the night with “All American Nightmare.”

The last time I photographed Hinder was back in 2019 at The Rockpile in Toronto. Seven years later, seeing them on the stage at RBC Amphitheatre was quite a different setting, but the band’s hard-rock sound still felt right at home.

Their seven-song set included “Homecoming Queen,” “Without You,” “Live Without It,” “Lips of an Angel,” “Bring Me Back to Life” and “Get Stoned.”

Photographing them from FOH gave me a completely different perspective than working from the pit later in the night. Instead of being right up against the stage, I was looking across the entire production, watching the lights, the movement of the band and the crowd all come together in front of me.

Hinder may have been the first band of the night, but they didn’t feel like an afterthought.

Hoobastank

Hoobastank took the stage at 7:05 PM, and this was my first time seeing the band live.

Going into their set, I wasn’t particularly familiar with their music, which made the experience even more interesting. From behind the camera, I was learning the songs and watching the crowd react to them at the same time.

The band opened with “Just One,” followed by “Born to Lead,” “Running Away,” “Same Direction,” “This Is Gonna Hurt” and “Out of Control.”

Before “How Do You Sleep,” something interesting happened. The crowd began chanting for the song before the band even started it. It was a reminder that while I may have been hearing some of this material for the first time, there were plenty of people in that audience who had been waiting to hear it.

Then came “The Reason.”

The reaction was immediate.

Phone lights appeared throughout the crowd as the band worked their way through one of their best-known songs. Someone joined the band on keyboards, and the audience was eventually asked to sing along with the chorus. They didn’t need much encouragement. The entire place joined in.

One of the moments that stood out to me had nothing to do with the music.

During “Born to Lead,” the second song of the set, Jesse Charland’s young son came out on stage and stood next to him. He was wearing a pair of pink hearing-protection earmuffs and holding a small red guitar. Seeing him up there beside his dad with his little guitar was one of those genuinely sweet moments you don’t expect to see at a rock show.

Hoobastank closed their nine-song set with “Crawling in the Dark,” leaving the stage to a crowd that had clearly been along for the ride.

Seether

At 8:10 PM, Seether took the stage.

The last time I saw Seether was on Saturday, November 10, 2018, in Oshawa, where they were co-headlining with Stone Temple Pilots alongside Default and Age of Days.

Nearly eight years later, it was good to see them again.

Their 11-song set opened with “Gasoline” and moved through “Truth,” “Wasteland,” “Words as Weapons,” “Broken,” “Fine Again,” “Nobody Praying for Me,” “Rise Above This,” “Lost All Control,” “Fake It” and “Remedy.”

There was also something about the stage setup that caught my eye immediately.

Oversized Hartke cabinets and amp heads had been positioned on either side of the drum kit. They looked massive from the pit, almost like pieces of the stage scenery, but they also gave the setup a distinctly old-school rock feel.

For a photographer, details like that matter. When you’re working in the pit for the first three songs, you’re constantly looking for more than just a face to photograph. The lights, instruments, amps and stage design all become part of the image.

And Seether gave us plenty to work with.

Staind

By the time 9:35 PM arrived, the amphitheatre was ready for Staind.

The screens began a countdown before the band appeared. When it reached its end, a vintage video of the band played across the screens, setting the tone for what was about to happen.

Then the lights went down.

Staind walked onto the stage to begin a night built around 25 years of Break the Cycle.

Released in 2001, Break the Cycle became one of Staind’s defining albums, eventually going five-times platinum and producing songs that would become staples of the band’s live shows, including “It’s Been Awhile,” “Outside,” “Fade” and “For You.”

But Staind didn’t perform the entire Break the Cycle album. Instead, songs from the 2001 record were mixed into a 15-song set that also reached into other parts of the band’s catalogue.

The main set opened with “Open Your Eyes,” followed by “Warm Safe Place,” “Fade,” “Raining Again,” “Everything Changes,” “Take It,” “Right Here,” “Something to Remind You,” “Suffer,” “Pressure,” “So Far Away,” “Outside” and “For You.”

After a brief departure from the stage, the band returned for a two-song encore consisting of “It’s Been Awhile” and “Mudshovel.”

Fifteen songs in total.

Having never seen Staind live before, there were little things I noticed throughout the performance. One was Aaron Lewis frequently singing with his hands in his pockets. It wasn’t something that distracted from the performance. If anything, it became part of his presence on stage.

Lewis also wore a hat bearing the word “Freedom,” another small detail that stood out from the photographer’s position at FOH.

The production was just as much a part of the show. The screens weren’t simply there to fill space. They were used to build the atmosphere, show the band through different moments of the performance and, at one point, pay tribute to musicians who are no longer with us.

It was a simple but meaningful moment.

A night built on memories

There was a point during the show when Lewis stopped and took a moment to talk to the audience.

“I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for 30 years,” he told the Toronto crowd.

He went on to talk about the people he had met along the way, the friends he had made and the friends he had lost.

“This song goes out to them tonight.”

He then performed “Something to Remind You.”

It was one of the quieter moments of the evening, but also one of the ones that carried the most weight.

Later in the show, Lewis looked out at the crowd and again talked about how many people had turned out. He called it an honour and a privilege to perform in front of them and thanked everyone for being there.

The crowd gave plenty back.

“Something to Remind You” wasn’t the only moment where the audience took over. “So Far Away” turned into a massive sing-along, with thousands of voices joining Lewis.

During “Outside,” the screens displayed a lighter-style graphic, prompting the audience to raise their phones. A few minutes into the song, Lewis had to remind people to take their phone lights out, and the sea of lights continued across the amphitheatre.

By the time “It’s Been Awhile” arrived, the place was already completely on its feet.

There was also a moment during the show when Lewis made his way over toward the side-stage area. From my position at FOH, I could see at least a dozen fans standing there, taking in the performance from their side-stage experience.

It was a great view of the crowd from where I was standing, and another reminder of just how close some of the fans were able to get to the band during the show.

You can spend the first three songs focused on shutter speed, lighting, positioning and trying to get the shot. Then you have to get your gear packed away and make your way back to your seat.

By the time I returned, everyone around me was standing. I’d been so locked into shooting the first three songs that I missed the moment the whole crowd got to its feet.

The anniversary without looking backward

There is always a temptation for bands celebrating a major album anniversary to simply play the record in its entirety.

Staind didn’t do that.

Instead, Break the Cycle served as the foundation for a broader look at the band’s career. Songs from the album sat alongside later material, giving longtime fans something familiar while still making the concert feel like a complete Staind show rather than a recreation of 2001.

The timing of the tour also coincides with the release of Break the Cycle (25th Anniversary Live), which arrived on August 21, 2026, bringing new live versions of the songs being celebrated on the road.

Twenty-five years after Break the Cycle first arrived, Staind are still standing in front of packed crowds singing these songs.

And judging by the response inside RBC Amphitheatre, the audience hasn’t forgotten them either.

The final notes of “Mudshovel” brought the night to a close on a fifteen-song set, twenty-five years after Break the Cycle first came out, in front of a Toronto crowd that hadn’t forgotten a word of it.

A huge thanks to Mahlet Sintayehu at Live Nation for the accreditation.

STAIND

SEETHER

HOOBASTANK

HINDER

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Drew Osborne

I’m Drew, the founder and editor of Front of the Stage. I have a strong love for music and photography, which started at a very young age. There’s just something I love about experiencing live music and capturing memories that will last a lifetime, and that’s how Front of the Stage came to be.