Dan Campbell hosted the first of a special, three-show winter tour run at Orlando, Florida’s The Social. The intimate evening of storytelling found The Wonder Years’ singer on a quieter stage, accompanied by an acoustic guitar and an attentive audience. While the band features lyrics that mostly reflect on Campbell’s own life, his other projects have branched out to touch on the perspectives of others and even delve into the lives of characters that are his own creation, including the evening’s headliner, Aaron West.
Campbell opened the show with a solo set under his own moniker, beginning with his ever-popular cover of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well.” Much of the set was composed of the 2021 album, Other People’s Lives, which began as a songwriting project during the pandemic in 2020 where Campbell took commissions from fans for songs written about their own life stories.
Once the project was complete, he compiled his favorites into what would become the album. Campbell also played a few songs from his split EP with Ace Enders inspired by Friday Night Lights, delighting fans with a tale about how he conceptualized an entire backstory for an unnamed character with minimal screen time in a single episode to create one of the tracks. In-between songs, Campbell read from his recently released poetry collection, What Do You Think It Means?, even including a special bonus poem that came “too late” for the book’s publishing deadline.
In less than 10 minutes following the completion of his first set, Campbell had changed clothes and taken off his wedding ring, re-entering the stage as Aaron West. West’s catalogue is a fictional universe steeped in lore detailing the trials and tribulations of the character’s life, along with that of his band, The Roaring Twenties. Last year saw the project celebrate their 10th year and release their third LP, In Lieu of Flowers. The songs on these albums have world building akin to episodes of a television show, but were blended seamlessly and carefully into the live set. While West’s story is fraught with loss, alcoholism, and struggles to succeed in the music realm, there is a sense of optimism found at the conclusion of his latest record, as well as on stage.
Campbell and West have two more shows together in Texas before the conclusion of this noteworthy tour, but the lore lives on. Only time will tell how the Dan Campbell cinematic universe will continue to unfold, but those who managed to be in the small rooms for these legendary shows definitely hold a special place in the narrative.
Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties
Dan Campbell
