Two months and three days after the Counting Crows were forced to cancel a show due to illness, they returned to Chicago to play their second sold-out show in as many months. And it was worth the wait.
On the last leg of their North American tour, the Crows played a relaxed, but spirited set which included a balance of fan favorites from their previous two albums, and quite a few songs off of their latest album, This Desert Life.
Musically, the overall message of this latest album is much less despairing than the Crows' previous album, Recovering the Satellites, but the songs are no less introspective. Replacing the harder, desperate tunes such as "I'm Not sleeping" and "Have You Seen Me Lately," are lighter, catchier tunes like "St. Robinson and his Cadillac Dream," and the latest single, "Hanginaround."
Unlike the Counting Crows' last tour, in which the band regularly played acoustic renderings of songs which would become the basis for their VH1 Storytellers session, all of the songs this evening were fully-electric, showcasing a seventh Crow, David Immergluck. The group re-worked each song to include the bay-area musician, who added a stylistic edge and inspiration to old favorites.
The ninety-minute set began with Crows frontman Adam Duritz singing the Byrds "So you wanna be a rock 'n roll star" verse over a stripped-down, acoustic "Mr. Jones" riff. But after that first verse, the lights went off, and the drums kicked in to the album-version of the song which they haven't played live since their first tour in 1994.
Proving their worth as a great live band, guitarist Dan Vickery led the band into the distortion-laden, "Angels of the Silences," with Immergluck providing an extra layer of electric harmony. Duritz seemed more jovial than in past years, frequently smiling and interacting with the crowd, but nevertheless, he retained the passionate stage presence which has become his trademark.
Never was the crowd more involved than during songs like "A Murder of One," when the crowd bobbed up and down upon Duritz' request, and "Hanginaround," which featured a sing-along, clap-along finale.
During songs from August and Recovering, Duritz tended to be a bit more expressive, often changing lyrics, and adding syncopation which made singing along a difficult task. The first song of the encore, "Anna Begins" was nearly a spoken-word poem until the chorus, but the rest of the band kept up nicely, filling in where Duritz left off.
With a song catalog bolstered by Desert, the Counting Crows had plenty of hits to fall back on, which made the absence of mega-hit "Round Here" less obvious. "A Long December" and "Walkaways" completed the three-song encore, but left the crowd wanting more. Duritz just laughed and said, "maybe we'll see you this summer at the World."
--ALEXANDER STACEY
Centerstage Will Feed You
