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My Not-So-Secret Love Affair With Counting Crows

This is a hard article to write. The reason for this is probably because I suffer from some inner turmoil related to my Counting Crows fan-dom. I have many debates about music, and I often under-represent my admiration for this band because no matter how well I make a case for them to be respected, anyone can dismiss the sum of their genius with a flippant “I can’t stand Adam Duritz” and the argument is halted.

Well since most of you are afraid of the comments section of this website, I have the ability to outline the main reasons why this band is under-rated and phenomenal.

1. Longevity

The band has been active for the better part of 20 years, releasing their 6th studio album, Underwater Sunshine, last month.

Some of you naysayers might say that 6 albums in 20 years isn’t really the definition of an active band, but these guys come from the old school, where touring is the life-force of the band. They’ve got a solid fan base and can tour whether or not they’re promoting an album.

2. They take risks

Now I know you want to hear the radio version of Mr. Jones if you see them live, but too bad.  They may or may not play it, and when they do it may have a whole different flavor to it.  More than likely you’ll get to sing along to the chorus while experiencing a vibrant rendition of the song.  This goes for any song they play.

Take for instance, the following videos.  The first is a version of their song Miami, reminiscent of the album version.

While this next one features a stripped down band at the YouTube studios.  The second song is the very same Miami, with a very different feel.

This vid also leads with an enjoyable Ballad Of El Goodo from the new album and ends with a Q&A that displays the equal parts of “interesting” and “D-bag” that are embodied within Adam Duritz.

3. A REAL BAND.

Say what you will about Mr. Duritz, because he can be a bit much sometimes, but the 6 guys behind him are an impressive musical unit.  They all sing background vocals and many of them play multiple instruments every show. The most impressive thing to me is that they listen to each other have the ability to be as lush or as sparse as is necessary for a given song.

I can’t help think that this is the closest thing in the current musical landscape to The Band (RIP Levon).  Everyone contributes and shapes the sound, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that they lean towards the Americana style that The Band helped define.

4. They put on a great live show.

I cannot emphasize this enough. The Counting Crows concert experience is wildly varied, in a good way. Will they take an upbeat song and make it into a ballad? Will Adam be drunk? Regardless, at some point you will feel your heart swell up with joy as you sing along with the refrain of a song (you may never’ve heard) either just before or just after your heart was broken by a simple piano or guitar lick.

Who knows, they might break into The Beatles’ Abbey Road Suite:

If youtube videos don’t give you the song-to-song listening enjoyment you crave , then check out one of the many sites that offers free downloads of fan recordings of Counting Crows live shows.  It is amazing how much you can delve into when a band allows their fans to record their shows, especially for a band that really does one-of-a-kind shows every night.

Not only do they play songs in ever-changing ways, but they find exciting experimental ways to tour as well.  Back in 2007, they played a whole tour of minor league baseball parks as a 90’s nostalgia tour with Live and Collective Soul and more recently, in 2009 they put on a tour with Michael Franti & Spearhead as well as Augustana, called The Saturday Night Rebel Rockers Traveling Circus & Medicine Show.  The way they ran this thing was a lot of fun, because each show started with EVERY member of each band onstage for a few songs, then, as whim dictated, members left the stage to return later, playing each others songs and collaborating in different ways each night.  Needless to say, this yielded some very exciting performances.

So there you have it. Great band, often overlooked due to egomaniac lead singer. Bigger catalog than you realize.