It's hard to believe it's been just under 8 years since I've last seen NEEDTOBREATHE in concert. Even if I ask myself "why," I don't really have an answer. Granted, many times these bigger tours hit bigger venues in bigger cities, and they can be a little trickier to get to. But if there's any band that is always rewarding to experience live, it's South Carolina rock band NEEDTOBREATHE.

Thankfully, Easton, PA's The State Theatre is in our neck of the woods, and it just happened to be the final stop of the band's World Tour on their way back to Nashville. However, I could not find any information online about the exact schedule for the evening. All sources said show was at 7pm, but that's it. Is that when the opening band goes on? Is that when the doors open? Is that when NEEDTOBREATHE goes on after the opener? No clarity. (And I've seen the start time refer to any of those options at different shows throughout the years.) Parking in Easton is an absolute bear (no pun intended), so even though we probably should have gotten to the theater in plenty of time to catch opener Tall Heights... we didn't. Tall Heights had taken the stage at 7, and we had spent most of the hour driving around downtown Easton trying to find a parking garage or parking meter that wasn't limited to just two hours.

Once inside, we took our seats inside the historic old theatre, and the rock quintet that is NEEDTOBREATHE took the stage pretty promptly at 8pm. With the lights dim and the air a little smoky from dry ice, the band opened in high energy with "Great Night," from their raucous pop album HARD LOVE, followed it with Rivers in the Wasteland's "State I'm In," and then closed the boisterous trilogy of upbeat songs with HARD LOVE's "Don't Bring That Trouble." A NEEDTOBREATHE show is a lot different from any of their studio albums. And, even with their live recordings, you still don't quite get all the energy and expert musicianship these guys bring to the stage. But after "...Trouble," frontman Bear Rinehart addressed the crowd to reflect on their Caves tour and then changed up their planned set list to include the stripped down acoustic number, "Let's Stay Home Tonight," also from HARD LOVE (which, is kind of ironic since everyone there is not at home, and I'm sure the band wouldn't have wanted it otherwise). They followed it up with "Banks," from Out of Body, which was a nice addition, and then they picked up the energy with another cut from Out of Body, "Riding High," which was preceded by a solid guitar solo from Bear and some straight-up jamming from the band. "Wasting Time" was then the first track from the tour's namesake, Caves, and the band continued to jam out any chance they could get. Keyboardist Josh Lovelace stepped down from his perch with a harmonica to jam along with the band. He even stepped into the audience to interact with the crowd down front. And just when the song seemed finished, guitarist Tyler Burkum offered up a pretty tasty solo. I've seen Tyler perform on stage with a couple different bands over the years, but this was my first time seeing him as a member of NEEDTOBREATHE, and I've never seen him have so much fun on a stage playing guitar before. He's truly in his element with this band.

Next, the band played a song Bear described as one he wrote "a long time ago," but it was a song that is more of an inside joke than something they would release on an album (according to them, it doesn't even have a title). (Regardless, they seemed to have a blast playing it.) Another cut from Caves followed with "Hideaway," which the band played in a stripped down format, with Josh on Mandolin and drummer Randall Harris manning a shaker. They continued the more acoustic format with "Stones Under Rushing Water," "Something Beautiful," and "Testify," the latter of which saw Randall trading the shaker for a tamourine and small standing foot pedal bass drum. As the band transitioned back into a full, plugged-in format, Bear talked about the horrors of not having tuned his guitar right for the next song at the show the night before in Canada, and how thankful he was that the band had just rolled with it. He then described the song as being a "hateful" one he wrote about himself, but had flipped it to sound like it was about someone else. And with that, the band launched into another HARD LOVE offering, "No Excuses." An oldie fan favorite, "Girl Named Tennessee" was an excellent choice to play next, with its bouncy and danceable feel, and they followed it with a jam session that led into a cover of Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me" as Bear took time to introduce and highlight each of his bandmates on stage. Rinehart then admitted that, although he hates when bands give their drummer a drum solo, he figured since it was the last night of the tour and Randall had "earned it," that he'd allow it this time. Randall then tore into a pretty fun drum solo that was well worth "allowing." After wrapping up the cover song, Bear introduced "Who Am I" as being a song about dealing with our insecurities, and reminded the Pennsylvania audience that they are loved. To close out their set, they broke into another fan favorite, "The Outsiders," and then exited the stage.

With the house lights remaining off, plunging the theater in darkness, the audience cheered for more, and before too long, Josh Lovelace returned to the stage and began performing a piano solo. Randall soon joined in with a drum beat, then bassist Seth Bolt added in some tambourine, and then the band fully launched into what is arguably NEEDTOBREATHE's biggest hit, "Brother." For this one, Bear hopped down from the stage and waded through the audience, weaving around rows and stopping to high-five many fans along the way. It was a nice touch for allowing the audience to connect on a little more personal level. When he returned to the stage, Bear told a story about writing the song "Wasteland" before the band proceeded to play it. And then, to officially conclude the evening, Rinehart introduced the last song as one he wants to sing till he dies, and wanted to leave the evening's listeners with. With that, they performed "West Texas Wind," the acoustic ballad and final track from 2021's album, Into the Mystery. Before the song finished, the entire band stepped out from behind their microphones and stood in front, belting out the lyrics acoustically, campfire-style.

I first saw NEEDTOBREATHE live in concert in 2007 when they opened for Jars of Clay on their Good Monsters Tour at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. It was the performance that made me a forever fan of this band. I remember seeing them again headlining a show in Philly the following year in a small and intimate venue called the World Live Cafe. They've always been a fantastic live band, and it's been surreal to see them grow and play bigger and bigger shows in larger venues. While the State Theatre isn't exactly an arena (nothing was crazier than seeing them headline a packed show back at the Electric Factory in 2016), it was still a packed house and a memorable live show. If you're a fan of the band, or just good southern rock n' roll, you won't ever want to pass up the chance to catch NEEDTOBREATHE in concert.