Aaron Lewis, lead singer and songwriter for modern-rock fave Staind, is fond of touring solo, letting his distinctive voice and acoustic guitar work convey the ache and angst of his group's best songs.

But Thursday night at the Hard Rock Live Arena at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, Staind proved it's much more than a one-man show, performing powerful versions of radio hits. There were issues with the sound system -- at times the vocals were tinny and abrasive, the guitars too distorted -- possibly caused by the arena's high-school gym layout. But it couldn't sap the enthusiasm of the near-capacity crowd, which sang along with Lewis, crowd-surfed and pumped fists.

Though Staind is touring in support of its sixth album, The Illusion of Progress, which dropped in August, the band wisely peppered its set list with older hits, thrilling the crowd with Right Here, So Far Away, Outside, its signature song It's Been Awhile and the frantic finale, Mudshovel. Only Believe, which is all over modern-rock radio, had similar impact among new tunes including All I Want, Pardon Me and Rainy Day Parade.

The few times Lewis picked up his acoustic guitar, for Epiphany, Outside and It's Been Awhile, his voice was richer than on record, resonating clearly and deeply. He's not one to say much in between songs -- ''Hi'' a few times, or ''This is a new song'' -- but he's still a strong presence onstage, and the audience was transfixed.

Papa Roach, fueled by manic front man Jacoby Shaddix's boundless energy, kicked off the evening with hits including Forever and Last Resort.

South African rockers Seether followed, with lead singer Shaun Morgan continuing to channel the spirit of his idol Kurt Cobain, down to the straggly dyed-red hair. Highlights included the punky Gasoline (which steals outright Cobain's melodic vocal progression), the sing-along anthem Rise Above This (the group's best song), the acoustic ballad Broken (which Morgan has performed with Evanescence singer and former girlfriend Amy Lee, but not on this night) and the current hit Fake It, which was outshined by another Nirvana carbon-copy, Remedy, to end Seether's set. Somewhere, Cobain is smiling -- or rolling his eyes.

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