Toledo, Ohio (Hollywood Casino), March 30, 2013 Options

[dangum]

Ed Kowalczyk will be perfoming a free show at the Hollywood Casino on March 30, 2013.

Saturday, March 30th ★ 9PM
Join Ed Kowalczyk formerly of Live in the H Lounge. Ed Kowalczyk had worldwide success in the 90s with four top 10 singles and selling over 20 million albums with the band Live. Hear your favorite alternative rock hits from the 90s including “Lightning Crashes,” “Selling the Drama,” “All Over You” and “I Alone” in the H Lounge. Also, catch new releases from Ed Kowalczyk’s newest album “Alive” featuring the single “Grace”.

No ticket necessary. Standing room only. Must be 21.

http://www.hollywoodcasinotoledo.com/Enter.../Special/Events

[Hoodstock]

Review: As a long time Live fan it just seemed weird when Ed came out with the new backing band and started singing All Over You. After they played the first solo song, The Great Beyond, it didn't seem to be that much of a big deal to me afterwards. I don't think it really mattered at all to the casual people who were there. People were there to hear Ed sing Live songs.

The space he had was at capacity and overflow ran into the casino area. I'd say there were about 350 - 400 people there just for the show, and quiet a few others that stopped behind the crowd occasionally just to check out what was going on or to listen to a song. You could see and hear the show through a majority of the casino.

I thought Ed played most of the songs that people came to hear while sprinkling in enough of the solo stuff to get his new album sold. It was better than the last Live show I saw during the SFBM tour. A big part of that was the song selection which (for the most part) was good. No later Live stuff in the set.

You can tell that Ed has been playing for a while with his "Texas" band because they work well together on stage. The band doesn't play every note exactly as Live would, but honestly that's something only a few actual people would even notice.

A few interesting show notes:

- Ed's came out to sing but the mic was not on the stand when he came out. He had to use the mic of the bass player until the second refrain of All Over You when the roadie ran it out and gave it to him. He was smiling and seemed pretty professional about it.

- By the end of the third song Ed had noticed that a lot of people were looking up over the stage (which is in the middle of the casino). There were three large screens above the band. The two outside screens read "Ed Kowalczyk: Formerly of Live". The middle screen had the Ohio State v. Wichita State NCAA tournament game on. Being in Ohio I think he understood there wasn't much he could do about it. After he noticed it he subtly pointed it out to the bass player and laughed it off. Occasionally he checked out the score and time after songs. About half way through the show the game was over and the casino switched to an elevated camera view of the stage.

- Ed promoted his table with his EP, but I got there before the show and the EP was not available. This was his last US tour date and I assume his EP supply for the tour had sold out. He did have numerous other things though.

- About forty minutes after the show Ed came out and signed autographs and took pictures with everyone who waited around to see him. He was talkative and really kind to everyone.

From what I recall I believe the show had the exact same set list as the Columbus show:

01. All Over You 4:24
02. The Great Beyond 3:41
03. The Distance 6:00
04. Selling The Drama 4:27
05. Drink (Everlasting Love) 3:15
06. Zion 5:06
07. The Dolphin's Cry 5:49
08. I'm The Proof 4:29
09. The Beauty Of Grey 6:18
10. Heaven 4:55
11. Grace 3:38
12. I Alone 6:10
13. ~ Encore ~ 3:31
14. Lakini's Juice 6:00
15. The Garden 4:34
16. Lightning Crashes 6:26

I'm not a fan of what Ed did to the band, but I'm not part of the band and not really basing my opinions of the music on the internal stuff. A ton of bands have split, evolved, or reformed. I think Ed's happy with what he's doing and I'm sure the rest of Live will find plenty of enjoyment and success without him. Some people want to hear the lead singer of old split up bands, some people would prefer the rest of the band, and others would be happy with both.

Overall, had a great time at the show and Ed put on a really good show. The crowd was into it and everyone was having fun. Ed delivered what the people came to hear (with the exception of a few comments that I overhead after the show of people hoping to hear a specific song that they liked that wasn't on the set list). I'd have no problem seeing another solo tour show with the full band.