Collective Soul/Live/Counting Crows

ForeEyes

Got my 1994ish groove on last weekend in Indianapolis while all y'all cool kids were up in Chicago watching a proper band.

This was the Triple A/Triple Play tour thing the above bands have been doing at minor league ballparks. (We got the tix long before Lolla came along and I didn't win the debate.)

Quick review for anyone who cares:
-Collective Soul's lead singer borders on cartoonish with his blond 'do, shades in the shade, and aging-man-aping-young-Mick-Jagger wiggles.
That said, the band was tight and the singer sounded great.
It was still very light out, so there was zero energy in the crowd until, of all things, a fight broke out a few rows from the stage. Aforementioned singer stopped what he was doing, and SHOUTED "Hey! Cut that shit out RIGHT NOW! I mean it! You don't do that at my show! I'm serious!" Then he directed security to leave the guys alone as long as they separated. It was hysterical and got everyone's attention. From then on, the crowd really tuned in. Good stuff.

-Live was really terrific, especially for the venue and time restraints. The hour-long set featured mostly stuff familiar to casual fans - sung basically the way they were recorded. High energy. If it lacked anything, it lacked any memorable departures from the expected, but given the way the headliners would approach their hits, Live's decision to play it straight turned out to be a godsend.

-Counting Crows stank. To me. A casual fan. Admittedly, if someone wrote about a PJ show what I'm about to write about the CC, I'd be the first to say something like "well, clearly you don't understand". So I don't understand. And I'm a hypocrite. Fine.
Here's the thing: If you have, say 8 "hits"... and your concert posters say "All the Hits in One Night!"... you might have the common decency to play, say, maybe 4 of them reasonably "straight". In other words, in a time, tempo, temperment, and tone that are familiar enough that the casual fan can bellow along. I'm not asking for a straight up albumside - I promise!
I just would have liked a couple of the groups many many familiar songs presented in a familiar way.
Instead Mr. Duritz drilled holes in all his original arrangements and let the ethereal magic of his poetical self flow on through. (In other words, I couldn't understand what the damned dude was saying. Er, singing. Whatever.)
Really, I get that you're bored with your stuff. And I totally respect your right to do with it what you please. But if you want to play a short set with other, er, post-prime bands on the bill, and you promote "the hits" to a crowd of folks who are a heck of a lot pastier, balder, and busier than back when you had our undivided attention, then it might be wise to pander a bit and let me hear something other than a Scat/spoken word version of Mr. goddam Jones.


Sorry.

I guess PJ does the whole reinterpret-while-staying-true-to-the-spirit-of-the-original thing so well that I'm spoiled. When you go to a Pearl Jam show, you know you'll be able to wail along with 80%, then get mesmerized by the unfamiliar 20% that comes in the form of tags or covers.
In the CC case, the percentages weren't just flipped, they were thrown out the window. There was no nod whatsoever to the nostalgia that drives folks to shows.

Not sure if that makes sense, but there it is.

Hope y'all had fun at Lolla.

red mos

I've been awaiting a review of this show! Thanks. Live and CS are coming in October and I'm thinking of going. I've seen collective soul before, and they were brilliant. A Great and very underated band. Glad to know Live is still cranking out the hits. I haven't seen them yet, and actually kind of lost touch with their music.
As for Counting crows, I saw them 10 years ago, and they still did musically rearangements back then. Bob Dylan does the exact same thing. As you said, it's mostly designed for the die hard fans, and so the singer or band don't get bored, but sometimes the new arrangements just aren't recreated well. I saw the Crows when on the recovering the satelites tour, and it was actually a pre- rehearsal tour for a mtv special cause they played the same set to as the whole tour, but mtv edited it down so some songs were left off. They played "Mr. Jones" with an accordian, piano, and bongos when I saw them. It was cool, but weird to see the song really stripped down. I bet they hate playing that one. Thanks for the review. If I can cough up the cash, I may spring for the live /collective show in October.

Atomic Punk

looking forward to the show. I am going here in NJ on 8/22. I have seen all 3 before. Collective Soul, in 4 shows, never disappointed. Live, in 10 shows, was awesome in some, decent in others, and crap in a couple. Counting Crows got about 4 songs from me and I walked out. It all sounded the same to me.

Live's earlier shows were the best. Ed is way too preachy for me now. Hopefully with limited time, he will do limited babbling. The Secret Sumadhi tour was the friggin best.

ForeEyes

Atomic Punk wrote:

Ed is way too preachy for me now. Hopefully with limited time, he will do limited babbling.

Barely said a word.

Did take off his shirt tho - that was kind of... eww. All I could think of was "He's my age - WTF is he thinking? There's not a swimming pool within 15 blocks of here!"

Jzacur

I was wondering how this concert would be, they are coming around my area in later September/October (memory fails me) and was contemplating purchasing tickets for it. However everyone who has seen Counting Crows has complained about the lack or/poor effort of Mr. Jones....odd

cc10106

Crows need to bring back the old school album version of Rain King. I dig the acoustic, but it's time to change. The acoustic version of Catapult I could never get enough of though.

Yellow Bedwetter

here's my original thread

http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=251389

angryyoungman

i agree with most of what you are saying. . .ive seen all of them seperately (collective soul and live both 2x, counting crows once) and im actually going to live/collective soul tonight and then the whole triple play bill next week upstate. . .collective soul and live are both amazing live bands, both put on great, energetic, shows. . .while i didnt mind cc rearranging some of the songs it would have been nice to hear some of them in some recognizable form, like you said. . .but im looking forward to the show(s)

happyhourhero

thanks for the review. good stuff. like angryyoungman, i'll be at the show tonight, sans crounting crows. never saw collective soul before and saw live in 95 and 97 and wasn't dissappointed. looking forward to tonight, hopefully the rain will subside a little.

1STmammal2wearPants

saw these three bands last night in new britain, ct, and it was a great show overall. while counting crows should have played a little less touchy-feely, cringe-worthy tunes, they sounded tight, as did live, which for me, was the highlight of the show. live cranking out all over you started off things with a bang- they were fucking great. those going will be in for a treat- especially live.

angryyoungman

happyhourhero wrote:

thanks for the review. good stuff. like angryyoungman, i'll be at the show tonight, sans crounting crows. never saw collective soul before and saw live in 95 and 97 and wasn't dissappointed. looking forward to tonight, hopefully the rain will subside a little.

were you the guy in the 10 club shirt? if so you were standing right in front of me when live came on, i had moved up to the front of the stage when they came on

snipes824

that was probably me. right in front of the bassist on the left?

anyway collective soul was awesome and live was pretty good but lives singer kinda irritated me. i hate the whole take off your shirt thing and have it mostly buttoned down the other half of the time.

happyhourhero

angryyoungman wrote:

were you the guy in the 10 club shirt? if so you were standing right in front of me when live came on, i had moved up to the front of the stage when they came on

nope, maybe it was snipes, I was up on the lawn. I was going to wear a PJ shirt but the 1 that i have thats not mia and/or full of holes, was in the wash.

I thought the show was pretty good. 3rd time seeing live and the 3rd time ed took off his shirt...guess thats his thing....but when he did, it seemed like he got into it a whole lot more than the first half of the set, so i guess by taking of his shirt he was able to release all the energy that the shirt was restricting. I really enjoyed the guitar players power stomps during the set. Good show, nice to see the bands getting into it.

What was going on up front when the singer from collective soul kept on saying, "i can hear you" and the thing about the wedge?

angryyoungman

snipes824 wrote:

that was probably me. right in front of the bassist on the left?

anyway collective soul was awesome and live was pretty good but lives singer kinda irritated me. i hate the whole take off your shirt thing and have it mostly buttoned down the other half of the time.

yeah, i guess it was you. . .i walked by you and told you "nice shirt" at one point, not sure if you heard me. . .

angryyoungman

happyhourhero wrote:

nope, maybe it was snipes, I was up on the lawn. I was going to wear a PJ shirt but the 1 that i have thats not mia and/or full of holes, was in the wash.

I thought the show was pretty good. 3rd time seeing live and the 3rd time ed took off his shirt...guess thats his thing....but when he did, it seemed like he got into it a whole lot more than the first half of the set, so i guess by taking of his shirt he was able to release all the energy that the shirt was restricting. I really enjoyed the guitar players power stomps during the set. Good show, nice to see the bands getting into it.

What was going on up front when the singer from collective soul kept on saying, "i can hear you" and the thing about the wedge?

i didnt know what he was talking about in either case. . .i was about 10 rows back from the stage when collective soul was on. . .btw yeah ive seen live 3x now and he takes off his shirt in every one. . .it does get stupid after a while, especially considering it was cold and rainy out. i could see if it was hot

Mantra Slider

I saw Live in Milwaukee at Summerfest and they were excellent.
They have always been a very, very professional band who do a great show of the hits and some rarer tunes.
I will warn you though, if you don't dig "religion" in your songs than avoid the show.
I'm not anti-religion, I love U2 and have for 25 years now, all I'm saying is that Live are like U2 in that there's a bit of Christian mysticism to their songs and act and if you should be prepared for it.
I didn't find it offensive at all, I consider myself a Buddhist, because I think their message is positive and inclusive to all religions.
Just my humble .02, your mileage may vary.

Atomic Punk

went last night. Show started at 6:30 and due to travel / work reasons and such, got there a little late. Only caught about 3 Collective Soul songs. They were as expected. Solid. Wished I was able to get there or that the show started at a better time for people who had to work on a Wednesday (figure that), and travel from work, home, then to the show.

Anyway, next was Live. I officially give up on them. 11th time seeing them and I should have stopped after about 7 or 8. They get progressively less fun to see. They do not lack musicianship, they lack good songs. They lost their edge a while back, and cannot find it. And yes, Ed bothers me. He never used to. I used to think he was one of the better front men in the game. Back in the mid 90's that is. Not any more. I will not spend another dollar on that band. Even if they open for another band who I am going to see, I am tailgating while they play. So sick of them. It's a shame, I used to love them.

Counting Crowes...well, what can I say.....hmmmm...they should be a lounge act the way they choose to perform their songs. I wish the lineup had been reversed. Stayed for about 5 songs...left...which many people seemed to be doing. Adam needs to stop ruining every fucking song.

So, in summation, the only one I would pay to see again is Collective Soul. Get there early if you ae going, or you will miss the best part of the show.