Counting Crows at the Ryman. August 15, 2009
I have had it with Counting Crows concerts. For real this time.
Tuesday night we went to see Counting Crows at the Ryman. Counting Crows! At the Ryman! My favorite band at my favorite venue, AND it was the day after my birthday. It was meant to be.
I have seen Counting Crows live at least five times. And at least five times, I have been disappointed. You’d think I would learn. And I will! This time! I mean it!
There were three bands on the bill – Michael Franti and Spearhead, Augustana, and Counting Crows. Emphasis on COUNTING CROWS. You know, the headliner. The band we bought tickets to see. The one that gets the butts in the seats. So we get there, the curtain comes up, and we see… everyone. All three bands in their entirety are onstage. They do Rain King first thing, right off the bat. We are all on our feet. It is awesome.
And then? We are subject to an hour and a half of Michael Franti and Augustana. Adam Duritz is on stage, singing along and taking pictures, but there are no Counting Crows songs to be found. Then we go to intermission.
OK, we’re thinking. That was fun. Kind of confusing, but at least it was a more interesting way to do the first two bands on the show than just us sitting and staring at them. We get drinks, stand and stretch, and get excited about the Counting Crows portion of the evening that is surely going to start any minute.
But start it never did. The curtain comes back up, and guess what? ALL THREE BANDS. Again. Sometimes one of the bands would go off stage in order to let the others have the spotlight. Which would have been great if the band that left the stage wasn’t always Counting Crows. You know, no big deal, we only paid a gazillion dollars to see them play.
All in all it was a four hour show split evenly between the bands. It was a triple-headliner. Michael Franti, while very cool, only has one quasi-hit that you would only know if your town has a triple A radio station that you listen to constantly. Augustana, who was much cooler than you would think, has maybe two songs you’ve heard if you’re not a big fan. They were great choices for OPENING BANDS. I sat for four hours and heard maybe ten Counting Crows songs.
Here’s what I don’t understand. Counting Crows makes great live albums. GREAT. Which means, somewhere, at some time, for some audience, Adam Duritz gets it together and plays an amazing show. Has he only done it a few times, when he knows it’s being recorded? Am I just in the wrong part(s) of the country? Why does he always do this to me?
No more, Adam Duritz. You have burned me for the last time. I shake my fist at you. I bite my thumb at you. I fart in your general direction. Next time I will just sit at home and listen to Across a Wire. GAH.
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BRANDI!!! Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby was first! It was Rain King that I beckoned forth by my very will!
what a crappy show. yuck.
i did see CC do a good show one time. the first time i saw them was in 2002 at a festival, and they played for i guess an hour and a half. they did not play “Angels of the Silences” though, which at the time i really really wanted to see. i remember them playing a lot of songs i didn’t know (i think ‘Hard Candy’ had just come out) but i liked it. the other time i saw them was on the co-headliner tour with john mayer. CC opened, and didn’t even play that long. neither show did i walk away thinking they were awesome, even though i wanted them to be.
I have seen them do a couple of good shows – both times we saw them at the House of Blues were good – good amount of music played, good songs. I walked away happy from both of those. I think I have seen them five times (though I can only think of four right now). I saw them co-headline with Live and didn’t like that very much because I didn’t want to see Live.
Mike says he doesn’t like how they are always trying to be one big happy family with the opening acts, and that’s what this sounds like, too.
Sorry you had a bad time. But in Adam Duritz’s defense he has been talking about this all summer. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. But I’m sure if you didn’t know about it, it would suck.
Interesting! I had no idea, it never occurred to me to look up info about the show. I just assumed I bought a ticket to see Counting Crows headline and that was what I was getting. It would have been great to have known what was coming in advance for sure.
I was there. It was an awesome show. Im not a Augustana or Michael Franti fan, but you have to appreciate what was taking place in one of the best venues in America. Yeah, only a handful of Counting Crows songs and a little too much Franti, but some great collaborations, cover songs, and crows. All 19 musicians were having fun on stage and not missing a note. And for future reference you should read a little bit in advance about a show that you pay a “gazillion dollars” for. I think I paid $40 and it was worth every penny.
It says this on their website:
Dear Everyone-Who-Happens-To-Read-This,
I know you’re all used to showing up at 8:30 or 9PM for concerts that started at 7. It’s understandable. You’re there to see YOUR band and you’re showing up when you think they’re gonna play, right? Well, starting on Thursday July 16th at Marymoor Amphitheatre in Redmond, Washington, that’s all going to change.
Ladies and Gentlemen, at 7:15PM, when the curtain goes up on The Saturday Night Rebel Rockers Traveling Circus & Medicine Show, Augustana AND Counting Crows are all going to be walking out onstage together and that show is going to start with EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US onstage singing and playing our brains out. We’ll do a few songs together and then it may be Counting Crows that plays the first set alone. I don’t know exactly how the shows going to run every night. It’ll definitely be different a few days later in Friant, CA when Michael Franti & Spearhead join up. It’ll probably be different every night. The only thing I know for sure is that EVERY show on this tour is going to start with EVERYONE onstage together and we’re going to all be running on & off stage all night playing on each others songs and playing songs all together and basically just playing whenever we feel like playing. So you get my point, right?
GET HERE ON TIME!
Cuz when the curtain rises…THE CIRCUS BEGINS
ad
Cool, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I mean, from what you wrote, there is no way you could have been at the concert..Rain king wasn’t until the encore. Counting Crows solo performed 11 songs, Michael Franti had 7, and Augustana 6…Sounds like an average concert to me..I actually enjoyed the mix of bands, because you never who would come on next. I was 2nd row out, and I have to say it was the most amazing show i’ve seen..And CC being my fav band, and having seen then 7 times, thats saying alot.
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