St Joseph, MO (Trails West Festival), August 15, 2014 Options

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http://www.stjoearts.org/trails_west_admission_buttons.htm

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Live bassist Patrick Dahlheimer isn’t afraid to address the elephant in the room.

Former Live lead singer Ed Kowalczyk left the band in 2009 in what appeared to be a very messy breakup. At the time, Dahlheimer and his bandmates alleged that the reasons for the separation included Kowalczyk’s demand of a $100,000 “lead singer bonus” at the 2009 Pinkpop Festival and a secretive 2005 contract making Kowalczyk the sole signatory of Live’s Black Coffee Publishing company. Kowalczyk claimed the allegations were false and fumed about the timing of legal action taken by his former band.

The “he said, they said” split not only left one of the most memorable rock bands of the 1990s divided, but also the Live fanbase.

“I’ve read (things) on social sites. There are plenty of people who just want to choose sides — like the Ed side vs. the Live side,” Dahlheimer says. “What we say is ‘Look, if you’re a true fan, you’re getting a double-whammy.’ Ed’s doing his own records and Live is continuing, so you get the best of both worlds.”

Live found a new frontman in Chris Shinn, the former lead singer for Unified Theory, a band that included former players from Blind Melon and Pearl Jam. Dahlheimer says the reinvented Live already has a new album in the can. It’s mixed, mastered and packaged, but the group is currently looking at major labels and indie labels to pick the best method of release. Dahlheimer says Live fans can expect to hear it before next spring.

Dahlheimer adds that he’s champing at the bit to get the new music in front of a worldwide audience.

“The last few records with Ed as the frontperson, it really became a singer-songwriter band, and we were playing a supportive role. And when Ed chose to leave, it was a message to us that we needed to get back to what we do, and that was write together,” Dahlheimer says.

“There are some heavy dark songs, and there are some songs that remind me of ‘Mental Jewelry’ (Live’s 1991 debut album),” he says of the upcoming record. “They just have a lightness to them.”

Live will play just a couple of new songs in St. Joseph on Friday, but the rest of the band’s set will be culled from Live’s albums from the 1990s. Fans can expect quite a few from 1994’s “Throwing Copper,” which yielded the enduring hits “I Alone,” “All Over You” and the No. 1 single “Lightning Crashes,” all of which still get a stunning amount of play on modern rock radio today.

Dahlheimer says that “the door is closed” on a reunion with Kowalczyk, but the band is ecstatic with the way Shinn has handled the role since making his big debut on the Summerland Tour last year.

“We didn’t have a single person go to the ticket booth and say, ‘Hey, I want my money back.’ Let’s put it that way,” Dahlheimer says.

http://www.newspressnow.com/life/st_joe_li...bc31aaab8b.html