Counting Crows @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 2/4/2023
It probably wasn’t part of the planning for Counting Crows front man Adam Duritz to get Covid at the start of their New Zealand tour which saw the Adelaide date moved from Thursday to Sunday. Fortunately, luck was on Adelaide’s side and we were definitely grateful that the show was able to go on albeit without the support Frank Turner who was playing his own show in Hobart. The show was subsequently titled “An Evening With The Counting Crows”. This was far more than just an evening with The Counting Crows, this was an incredible show with a band at the height of their powers.
It was a low key build up as the band took the stage at half eight wasting no time launching in to Catapault with Duritz showing no visible signs of illness. Duritz sounded fantastic as did the band proceeding to play If I Could Give All My Love -or- Richard Manuel Is Dead and crowd favourite Mr Jones which featured early in the set. Colorblind was passionate and emotive with the crowd hanging off every note. Duritz said hello and reflected on seven days in quarantine in Wellington saying he thought he had lost his mind having binged on Thai food for breakfast, lunch and dinner adding that he felt little off balance with things. Adding that this job makes it easy to get Covid when a fan yelled ‘I love you’ to which Duritz joked ‘where were you last week’.
Butterfly In Reverse, brilliant, is a song that his girlfriend had long nagged him to play. Charlie Gillingham played accordion on the stunning version of Omaha. Goodnight Elisabeth morphed in to Pale Blue Eyes was a poignant moment in the set. The next few songs were played acoustically with Duritz mentioning a funny story about either not having the correct instruments or having broken instruments or having a combination of both (you had to have been there to get the gist). Washington Square was one for the highlights reel with even Duritz adding that he was glad he was able to play it, also mentioning that ‘moving around the stage in passion to these funky up tempo rock songs’ that even after fifteen years they still collide in to each other on stage. God Of Ocean Tides kept that acoustic flavour going a bit longer.
It was a real treasure trove of gold that followed with the likes of Miami and The Tall Grass then Elevator Boots off their new EP Butter Miracle, Suite One. The crowd were really in to it and the atmosphere in the room was awesome with plenty more big moments to come with Angel of 14th Street, Bobby and the Rat‐Kings, Rain King and finishing the main set on A Long December. Duritz tapped the piano thanking the crowd before retreating back stage to return moments later for an encore.
The encore, oh my god, so good! Round Here and Hanging Around were outstanding moments in the show. Duritz took a moment to reflect on the night saying how great it was to play a show and how great it was that the fans were here even mentioning that he had the best sausage roll of his life down at Brighton Beach earlier in the day. Holiday In Spain was the perfect song to finish a perfect night with Duritz promising the faithful that they would be back as he loved his time in Adelaide. East Coast it’s your turn, don’t miss these shows.
Live Review By Rob Lyon