With fellow alt-rock/pop outfit Toad the Wet Sprocket opening the show, the California band played a host of its favorites on Monday, some of them with an endearing twist. (Review, photo gallery)
By John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com
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Maybe it’s that whole Southern California connection, but there’s always been a certain cinematic, indie-filmmaker quality to the music of Counting Crows.
Frontman and chief songsmith Adam Duritz pens screenwriter-worthy, highly literate prose to accompany the alt-rock band’s panoramic approach to tales referring to Hollywood, big stars and the Pacific coast.
There’s also a fair amount of artiste-driven chutzpah to Duritz’s oft-cerebral music and stage mannerisms, which can range from Joe Cocker-like writhing to theatrical, sweeping hand motions, even if leading men don’t usually sport bushy dreadlocks (or hair extensions perhaps?) and black Electric Light Orchestra T-shirts.
And on Monday at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, the lush setting on a beautifully balmy night in a jam-packed amphitheater would have suited the artistic needs of many a movie director documenting the musical action – which included a smart, audience-pleasing 50-minute opening set by Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Better yet, Duritz and his six comrades in arms were clearly in a good mood and eager to satiate a crowd long on 30- and 40-somethings reared on the California band’s music.
For a band which is often unpredictable in terms of song choices and set lists from night to night, it can be hit-and-miss as to how many of its biggest hits might find their way into a set, not to mention Duritz and company’s habit of taking ample liberty with their own material to shape it, revamp it and jam on it as they see fit.
MIXING THINGS UP PERFECTLY
On Monday, they mixed it up almost perfectly over 95 minutes, trotting out fan faves “Rain King,” “Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby,” “Mr. Jones,” “Goodnight Elisabeth,” “Omaha,” “A Long December,” “Round Here” and “Hanginaround.” (The night before in Cincinnati, the band performed only four of those songs.)
The well-oiled, road-tested bunch adroitly interspersed band faves such as “Washington Square” and “Mercy” (a cover of a song by Tender Mercies, which features Counting Crows band members Dan Vickrey and Jim Bogios), and unveiled an intriguing, country-folk styled new tune, “God of Ocean Tides,” from the group’s upcoming new album, “Somewhere Under Wonderland,” to be released this fall.
And they did it for an approving audience which stood and swayed for a healthy portion of the evening.
Granted, the band took the usual liberties with many of those familiar tunes – a super-slow-cooking take on “Rain King,” extended, solo-rich renditions of “Round Here” and “Long December,” and a brilliant, harmony-hued “Goodnight Elisabeth” – but in a way that retained the muscle and power of the originals, with Duritz playing the role of a method actor who wants to feel every word and line he sings.
While he’s the sort of independent-minded, almost distracted-looking fellow who’ll take a breather during a solo by sitting on the drum riser with his feet stretched out, he’ll saunter to the microphone at the perfect time to give the right amount of emotional wallop to a key phrase. And he seemed to warm up to the crowd and the task at hand as the evening wore on.
So when a cheerful Duritz gushed in predictable fashion at the close of the encore, “We’ll be back,” you had to believe he really meant it (even though he once threatened many years ago at The Orbit Room that they’d never play Grand Rapids again after opening act Alex Chilton was disrespected by fans … and the band has indeed played here since).
TOAD THE WET SPROCKET SHOWS OFF ITS CATCHY POP-HUED ROCK
With a more pop-oriented M.O. to its alt-rock, Toad the Wet Sprocket had a smaller, but just as devoted cadre of fans captivated from the get-go.
Naturally, frontman Glen Phillips and his bandmates made sure to unfurl the hits “Something’s Always Wrong,” “All I Want,” “Fall Down” and “Walk on the Ocean” (with those distinctive Toad harmonies intact) for these Toadies, along with new material such as “New Constellation” from an album recorded and released last year with help from a fan-funded Kickstarter project.
Indeed, for a band that went it separate ways for a while, frontman Glen Phillips and his crew couldn’t stay away from the road and seem as happy as ever, something Duritz even referenced later on, calling the bands’ joint tour a “total pleasure” and a “good way to spend a summer.”
And for audiences, a great way to spend a summer night …
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music