New York, NY, June 10th, 2007 Options

[SJN1279]

Funny, reading this thread. I came into the concert a much bigger Live fan than of Collective Soul (have seen Live on 3 prior occasions) and thought Collective Soul blew them away, set-list wise, mix-wise and I loved the vibe that they dont take themselves too seriously. The guitar work was amazing. Live had a rough-sounding mix, and songs like The River and Mystery are far from "In Your Face" rock. The sunglasses gimic on the first song was quite hack, too.

I'm sorry, but Live lost me on the last album, and it was a bummer that they basically ignored their best album, Secret Samadhi.

But we can always agree to disagree and Im sure I'll buy the next Live album whenever it comes out...

Mystery and The River aren't in your face rock, but they weren't meant to be. Live's rock songs(I Alone, Lakini's Juice) totally rock out in concert way more than anything the other band did. Collective Soul's songs were very mundane in concert and you could tell by the crowd reaction. During Live between were dancing and going nuts on the floor. During Collective Soul for the most part, people were standing like zombies(save for a few fans).

Set-list wise Live played an extra 40 minutes than Collective Soul, so they weren't confined to a hits only show as CS was. If Live lost you on the last album, I wonder how you feel about Hollywood, which to me is pointless drivel.

If you think the sunglass gimic was hack, what about Ed Roland dancing like a fool with the mike stand. He reminds me of an old man still trying to hang out at early 20's dance club. Just pathetic and totally lame.

[Jennyfoo]

Nick! Come on now. I don't want to fight, but you're making fun of some of the stuff that I love most about Ed Roland and Joel Kosche. And you know i can get a little ugly and I really, really don't want to.

You're making it sound like the bands were slugging it out in a steel cage. They were not in competition with each other with the length of a set or the number of hits each of them had ... or whatever.

i wasnt there and so I can't say what the crowd was doing, but I DO know that I've seen crowds at both ends of the excitement spectrum for both bands.

And yeah, Hollywood might be some pointless poppy fun, but theres a huge difference between it and say, the stuff Live tried to make pop on SFBM. But thats another story entirely and I'm too tired for that argument.

[And Hi Damon, I am pretty sure I know you! ]

[Tina]

Thank you Jen for writing that. I was there and I have to say that I thought the crowd participation during Collective Soul's set was amazing. My friend even asked me when they exited the stage how Live could top that. I told her it was possible, but I still thought Collective Soul was great! The crowd sang along so loud. My friends and I were singing and dancing along.

I love how Ed dances also...it's called stage presence. If he just stood still and did nothing, Nick would find something wrong with that too. I'm learning to ingnore. I don't want to show anyone my ugly side.

[Jennyfoo]

Thanks Tina I dont think you have an ugly side though!

You're right though, poor Ed Roland was screwed from the beginning, anything he did would not be 'good enough' I adore the man! But you all knew that already. I miss that mike-stand dancing fool.

So what if Roland's got a few years on Kowalczyk?! He's a limber 'old man'! At least you can not predict the exact moment in a song where he will lift his tank top and rub his tummy!

I'm glad your friend liked both bands!!

[SJN1279]

I think The River, Mystery, Wings etc are much better pop than Hollywood. Its my opinion, Hollywood is two very short verses and than "Hollywood, kiss kiss me good" for two minutes straight. The song is very lame.

I actually thought Ed Roland had very little stage presence and the rest of the band stayed glued to their spots the whole night. Very little band interaction. It was almost like watching the band play at Chucky Cheese, I thought when their set ended the curtain would come down and they'd be static waiting for the next show to start.

I'm not saying these things to be mean, its what I thought of their performance. And the nonsense that I didn't see the whole set, I arrived at 8:45 and saw them play for a hour. I even texted Susan at 9:08 asking if she thought they were as boring as I did.(I'll let her speak for herself but she wasn't kind). It was horrendous and I felt they were little better than the majority of Live's opening acts.

I agree some people did sing along during their hits, but most people on the floor stood static only clapping at the end of each song. If the crowd behaved that way for Live we'd be talking about how lame they were.

I think Live and Collective Soul are a bad match for a concert tour. The bands are very different. I'm a Live fan and figured Collective Soul would put on a similar show. It just didn't do anything for me. Live ups the tempo of the songs in concert, Collective Soul slows them up. It just didn't work for me.

[Heather]

Ok we get that it didn't work for you. Can we just let it go now instead of going on and on and on and on about it? While some people might agree with your opinion, others do not. Just let people have their own opinion without constantly arguing your points every time someone posts something good about CS. It is all a matter of opinion and believe it or not not every single person thinks that Live is flawless and the same goes for CS. Why make such a big huge deal about it.?If you don't like CS skip their part of the show in the future and let other people enjoy it and talk about enjoying it without taking crap for it every time. God!

It's a rock show it's not a matter of life and death. Just relax already!

This post has been edited by Heather: Jun 16 2007, 2:35 pm

[SJN1279]

My anger is usually reactionary, I'll say something bad when someone says something negative about Live. However, I was thinking about how annoyed I've been with this arguing(which I am largely responsible for). Just because I didn't like Collective Soul doesn't mean they aren't a good band. So I promise to stop my nonsense.

I look forward to seeing Live this August(and possibly into the fall), just like others look forward to seeing Collective Soul. As long as we are all respectful to the bands and each other at the shows, this should be a fun tour. Let's stop comparing and continue rocking out at the shows.

[Tina]

My anger is usually reactionary, I'll say something bad when someone says something negative about Live. However, I was thinking about how annoyed been with this arguing(which I am largely responsible for). Just because I didn't like Collective Soul doesn't mean they aren't a good band. So I promise to stop my nonsense.

I look forward to seeing Live this August(and possibly into the fall), just like others look forward to seeing Collective Soul. As long as we are all respectful to the bands and each other at the shows, this should be a fun tour. Let's stop comparing and continue rocking out at the shows.

It's about freakin' time you wised up! Now, don't let it happen again.

[Heather]

My anger is usually reactionary, I'll say something bad when someone says something negative about Live. However, I was thinking about how annoyed been with this arguing(which I am largely responsible for). Just because I didn't like Collective Soul doesn't mean they aren't a good band. So I promise to stop my nonsense.

I look forward to seeing Live this August(and possibly into the fall), just like others look forward to seeing Collective Soul. As long as we are all respectful to the bands and each other at the shows, this should be a fun tour. Let's stop comparing and continue rocking out at the shows.

Amen to that!

[zmanpga]

wheWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.... where the next show for everyone???

[Jennyfoo]

Awesome, Nick...maybe I wont have to kick you in the shin after all

[SJN1279]

I was checking youtube today and I had confirmation on why Live and Collective Soul are totally different concert bands. Live ups the tempo on all of their songs in concert. Its more of a rock-out performance.

Collective Soul slows down the tempo quite a bit. Here is my favorite studio song that Collective Soul does live in concert. Notice how much slower it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmSYiaX4Y0c

They are just very different bands.

[Hojo Mama]

I was checking youtube today and I had confirmation on why Live and Collective Soul are totally different concert bands. Live ups the tempo on all of their songs in concert. Its more of a rock-out performance.

Collective Soul slows down the tempo quite a bit. Here is my favorite studio song that Collective Soul does live in concert. Notice how much slower it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmSYiaX4Y0c

They are just very different bands.

One can argue that speeding up the tempo live is a sign of poor musicianship -- i.e. the inability to control the emotional rush of playing live. A better argument you might have is that C.S. plays many songs using a pre-recorded sequence/click track and therefore sounds somewhat robotic in its live performance whereas Live plays without it and therefore sounds more natural. But I digress...

I just dug CS more than Live that particular night for whatever reason.

[Heather]

Thanks for that link Nick. I don't know why but I have never actually checked out You tube since I've had a high speed connection. Those videos are great! You're right about the tempo being slower on that song but it isn't that way on all of their songs. Anyway when I see a band live I don't expect them to sound exactly like the cd. I still think their show rocks and you're right they are very different bands but I like it that way. I'm actually really excited to see them both perform back to back. Especially since it has been so long since I have seen either band. I hope to be able to give an objective opinion afterwards whether it be good or bad for both bands.

[SJN1279]

Thanks for that link Nick. I don't know why but I have never actually checked out You tube since I've had a high speed connection. Those videos are great! You're right about the tempo being slower on that song but it isn't that way on all of their songs. Anyway when I see a band live I don't expect them to sound exactly like the cd. I still think their show rocks and you're right they are very different bands but I like it that way. I'm actually really excited to see them both perform back to back. Especially since it has been so long since I have seen either band. I hope to be able to give an objective opinion afterwards whether it be good or bad for both bands.

Which show are you attending Heather? I think I'm doing Long Island, Lakewood, and hoping for a good venue in the fall.