Even though I had tickets and was not supposed to work and write about the show, I was so impressed with Counting Crows that I insisted on writing the review. I always found the story of Adam Duritz to be very interesting. His battle with depersonalization disorder and how his mental health issues rendered him unable to write songs. To me Adam is a very strong person overcoming the obstacles and fighting the battle. I have family members with the same disorders and mental health issues and all I can say is “The struggle is real”.

Counting Crows is a band with seven members: vocalist Adam Duritz; guitarists David Bryson, David Immergluck, and Dan Vickrey; bassist Millard Powers; keyboardist Charlie Gillingham; and drummer Jim Bogios. They are creating music that is soulful but with a touch of some intricate and timeless rock & roll.

The band came on stage and started with “Come Around”, you could see the excitement in the audience faces. No matter where I looked, all eyes were focused on the band performing. Girls screamed and jumped up and down while others didn’t hardly move at all having their eyes glued on the band. It was a great song to start the show off with.

Next was “Daylight Fading”, “Scarecrow” and “Colorblind” which I thought was a really cool song. In the song “Four White Stallions” they used a pedal steel guitar which gave it a nice special touch. When the song “Omaha” was played the crowd joined in and started singing along. It stunned me a little to see that no matter where I looked everybody knew the lyrics and was singing along. This is one reason that this was such a great show. You have an awesome audience mixed with a perfect concert atmosphere which seems to be a recipe for an unforgettable event.

The song “Cover Up the Sun” also stood out because of the singer and the Mandolin played off of each other. It was a really cool touch to the song and the Mandolin has such a unique sound. “When I Dream Of Michelangelo” had a very special spot in Adam’s heart because it took 20 years to write it. He had an idea of an image but he couldn’t really put it together; yet, 20 years later Adam finally figured out what the song was about for him. He stated in one of his interviews with James Champion: ”Finally, what the song is really about for me is that while you’re spending your whole life stretching out for something you can’t touch, you forget to touch everything else around you, and that I had become so divorced from the world through this disorder that the only thing I ever focused on was the music and it was the only touchstone I had on earth, and I had lost touch with everything else, and that is what that song was about, and now I knew how to write it.”

The next song “Around Here” opened up with a Synthesizer and had a lot of dynamics in the vocals. The lighting throughout the song added the right mood to the atmosphere. Adam’s piano skills showed when he sat down and played “One More Night In Hollywood”. This man is so talented and he didn’t hold back showing us how good he was in every single way. Half way through the set list and he still had the full attention of the audience. Looking around I was able to see that they were still having fun. They cheered, danced, clapped, screamed and whistled. It was kind of surprising and sad when the show already had reached the point of the encore.  The two songs the band had chosen were: “Palisades Park” and “Rain King”. It was a bitter sweet ending because you didn’t want Counting Crows to be done with their performance. Then on the other hand; you were excited that Matchbox 20 would soon hit the stage.

It was a show well done. Will I go and see the Counting Crows again??? ANYTIME!

Set List:

1. Come Around
2. Daylight Fading
3. Scarecrow
4. Colorblind
5. Four White Stallions
6. Omaha
7. Cover Up The Sun
8. Miami
9. When I Dream of Michelangelo
10. Round Here
11. One More Night In Hollywood
12. A Long December
13. Return Of The Grievous Angel
14. Hanginaround
15. Palisades Park
16. Rain King

Counting Crows at Mattress Firm Amphitheater

Reviewed by RacerX

Email: Michelle@backstage360.com