Counting Crows

The failure of live albums to capture the mood and sound of concerts is well documented. With the odd rare exception (Neil Young’s Weld for example) they often end up as just for fans or those actually at the show featured. But still bands churn them out, and in Counting Crows’ case, this is the third live album they’ve issued.

The release now is hard to explain; coming 18 years after August and Everything After was released and four years after this concert was actually performed in New York. In fact, the band may well have been at the forefront of the current trend to perform recorded albums in their entirety. It is something the likes of the Levellers, Ultra Vox and even Roger Waters have done this year.

Whatever the motives, this CD and DVD proves far more rewarding than expected, showcasing as it does, why the Counting Crows are a much revered live act. Lead singer Adam Duritz has always seemed one step away from a breakdown but he has a marvellous way of re-telling these songs’ stories live. Never does he repeat the track as a photocopy of its recorded version, instead choosing to give narrative to the lyrics with his vocal inflections.

Opener Round Here is mixed with the albums’ most bleak track, Raining in Baltimore, to open up proceedings but thereafter the original track-listing is adhered to. However surprises come aplenty with sprinklings of Bruce Springsteen (Rain King), Prince (Perfect Building Buildings) and even U2 and an obscure Sordid Humor track (Murder of One) across the performance.

Apart from the far poppier Hard Candy, August and Everything After is the band’s creative highlight and listening to this gives the tracks new life (Sullivan Street and Time Again benefiting from rockier treatment). The only surprise is the slightly less than enthusiastic crowd. It might be the way the album’s mixed but the audience rarely reaches anything more than slightly animated.