The other night, one of my favorite bands, the Counting Crows, came to play sat SPAC with Maroon 5. I was happy that Counting Crows closed the show because the last time I saw them at SPAC, they opened for John Mayer, and that was before he was big. That was back in 2004.
But, Counting Crows played an amazing show--the best one I have seen them play out of four shows I have witnessed in four years. What made this one so spectacular? They did something I have never seen before, something so out of the ordinary and bold that I think deserves recognition. They played an entire album start to finish, from track one to track eleven. They played their greatest album (recently remastered) August and Everything After. Amazing idea, amazing show.
Not all of those songs are crowd pleasers or very fast. Some people were upset because they did not play EVERY hit and single, but they were bold and played an entire album. I was surprised they didn't promote their new album; I really wanted to see some new songs played, but how incredible that they didn't just do what every other band does. They have so much material that they can do this, pull it off, and sound incredible while doing it.
And, I must note that Adam Duritz put on an amazing performance. When he sings, he truly performs. Each word holds so much meaning, he acts out each song, even changing them over time and adding new sections--you can tell he truly cares about his music.
Small sidenote: During "Rain King," in the middle, the band went back to a slower chorus of "Round Here," Adam singing it slowly and dragging out "Rain King" to be at least twice as long. That, to me, was the highlight of the night because it was so unexpected and so well done.
What did you think of the performance or their performances in general?
2 comments:
I've seen them six times (after last night), and the worst of the six was the one with John Mayer. Seemed like an abbriveated set, and the acoustics weren't all that good there. First time I saw them was at the "Launching the Satellites" show at the Grand in Hollywood. That was an AWESOME show, being in a small venue, but being as it was almost all new, as yet unreleased material, most of the audiance (myself included) didn't know the music. That didn't seem to matter a lot to the crowd. They put on SUCH a great live show, though. Any time they're around, I'll be there to see them!!!
By the way, I found your blog while looking for an image to go with my post about last night's show, hope you don't mind me stealing it for mine!!!
I disagree. I saw them with John and they did what bands are supposed to do, play songs and interact with the crowd. They played everything from Rain King to Big Yellow Taxi and ended with an amazing version of Long December. Fast forward to them and Goo Goo Dolls, and even last year, and I have to say I was completely disappointed. I don't care about what he feels about his songs, once you write a song and release it to make a profit, it becomes the fan's song and the fact that he not only changes the pace so people can't sing, but then to end the show early and purposely not play an encore is a slap in the face to everyone who bought a ticket to see them. His rant on some theater that burnt down during Mrs. Potter is ridiculous and I personally don't know or care about his personal life just like he wouldn't care about mine.
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