Counting Crows
Palais Theatre
March 27, 2009

Some bands give you a live show that sounds much like you’re listening to the CD. Quality bands will give you a performance – a true live show. Counting Crows go more for the performance angle, yet so often, prefer to go above and beyond to deliver a memorable experience.

It’s this ‘experience’ that separates Counting Crows from the others. But more about that later.

It was only the second time that Crows have made it to Australia, and this time, only on the back of a supporting gig for The Who. Luckily for Melbourne fans, we had the rare treat of a solo show for the first time since 2003.

This, along with their new album Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings launched in 2008, pointed towards a mixed bag – the favourites, the classics, some new stuff and a few other bits and pieces thrown in for shits and giggles.

And that’s pretty much what was delivered.

It was a typical Counting Crows kick off – no grandiose fanfare, no big build up. Just get out there and play some tunes. Their 7-piece outfit, like the crowd, was there for the love of the music. Opening with Cowboys from the new album was a decent start, and it was followed by Children in Bloom, setting the tone for the expected mixed bag.

In fact, the early stages were littered with the unexpected, like Miami and Black and Blue from the 2003 Hard Candy album, and Mrs Potter’s Lullaby thrown in between. Front man, Adam Duritz, admitted himself that they kicked off with some different tunes, yet it’s all part of a Counting Crows set – they play what they want, what they feel. And you can bet it was entirely different the next night.

But with Duritz in fine form, they soon launched into more familiar places, sprinkled with some fine tracks from the new album.

Time and Time Again warmed up the crowd for Mr Jones, bringing them to their feet for the first time and drawing comment from Duritz – “I see – so you stand up for ‘the single’.” As an aside, surprisingly it was Mr Jones that was played most like it would be heard on the disc.

But these musicians are not to be underestimated. David Immergluck hammed it up while spreading himself amongst electric, acoustic and mandolin. Dan Vickery was switching from banjo to electric and back to banjo during Good Time, and duelling solos beautifully with Immi on Richard Manuel is Dead and the new Hanging Tree. Hell, we even got the pleasure of a few squeezebox highlights from Charlie Gillingham on the keys.

These guys know how to play – and know how to get the most emotion from their tools to guide the ebbs and flows. Anna Begins, Colorblind and A Long December provided the perfect case in point.

So anyway, about this ‘experience’ and ‘performance’ thing that I was banging on about earlier…

A lot of it can be attributed to front man, Adam Duritz, and his delivery. He doesn’t just sing the lyrics – in fact, if you were there to hear his dulcet tones, you’ve come for the wrong reason. More so, he lives and breathes the lyrics. He performs them, emotes them. In fact, just watching him perform and gesticulate seems to give you further insight into the meaning of each song.

Round Here, from the acclaimed first album, August and Everything After, was a classic example. It took 9 minutes to tell the story, but by its end, you feel the insecurities of ‘the girl in the car in the parking lot’, you understand what it means to ‘talk just like lions, and sacrifice just like lambs’, and you begin to ‘notice the contrast of white on white’. It’s an amazing experience.

And to round out the experience, they left us with an encore of Washington Square from the new album, and finally the title track from Hard Candy. But they also left us with so much more. I’m just hoping it’s not another 6 years before we get to experience it again.