Connecticut Review, 8/6/08 Options

[SJN1279]

Notes:

-Probably the best crowd that I've seen so far this tour. The crowd was amazingly into the show.

-Band opened with Simple Creed and played Operation Spirit in the encore. Run to the Water, The Distance were also played, otherwise it was a standard set ending with Lightning Crashes.

-Live was in great spirits and seemed to appreciate the awesome crowd. I never would have believed that the band would have such a strong following in Wallingford, Connecticut. Who knew?!

[raineman]

Great show! BT was kind of a bore to me which was a disappointment. Every song sounded the same and it was ironic how there were almost no pauses in between them. Almost like one long harmonica session. Collective Soul put on a good set and I thought they sounded great. Crowd was more into them than BT for sure. I moved down to like the 4th row or so for Live (sorry for anyone in section 101 Im 6'6") Anyway, man what energy they had last night! They were on fire. The crowd was awesome too, everyone singing people high fivin and fist pumpin me Just a cool crowd overall. The band really did feed off the crowds energy! Live was also much louder than the other 2 acts but theres nothing wrong with loud Live ever. Set looked pretty similar to others with Operation Spirit thrown in which was sweet and sounded awesome. Shit Towne was omitted but it was cool to hear OS in its place. Overall a pretty sweet night. And sorry to the guy in front of me i drenched in beer, i was run into by someone dancin

[brianblank]

This really isn't worth mentioning, but I will anyway. This is probably one of the worst "written" articles of the tour. It looks like the reporter, rewrote the 3 bands discographies from Amazon.com. Though he does mention that Live just "released a DVD featuring two sold-out performances in Amsterdam." Somehow we all missed it. Anyway here is the link:

Rockers to take Meadowbrook stage

[brianblank]

Another article: Hartford Courant: Musical Time-Travel Worth The Trip by Bill Clifford

[SJN1279]

Another article: Hartford Courant: Musical Time-Travel Worth The Trip by Bill Clifford

Musical Time-Travel Worth The Trip
By BILL CLIFFORD | Special To The Courant
August 8, 2008
The triple bill of Live and Collective Soul with Blues Traveler had the makings of a VH1 "Behind The Music" episode. Three bands which all met with considerable success in the '90s, but have yet to repeat that success.

Disappointingly, when Blues Traveler walked on stage at the Chevrolet Theater in Wallingford, much of the audience was either on the patio smoking or in the lobby admiring the showroom vehicles. The band nonetheless, put on a dazzling performance. Front man Jon Popper was in fine form, showing off his harmonica prowess, blowing fast up and down the scales on the driving rock of "NY Prophesie" and bellowing his smoky vocals on the new "How You Remember it."

The middle-age crowd came to its feet and sang along when the band busted out hits such as "Runaround." Noting they had time for one more, Popper led the band into one of its oldest songs, "Sweet Talking Hippie," which built faster and faster till it segued into a thumping "Crash Burn" and, finally, into the band's biggest hit, "Four," which got the female contingency shaking their hips.

For Collective Soul, the theater did fill, and the crowd remained, on its feet. Performing a collection of hits such as "December," "World I Know," and "Hollywood," Collective Soul enticed the ladies in the house to scream and coo.



Front man Ed Roland played the part to a tee, running his hand through his buttery blond mane every chance he could. Hana Pestle, who opened the night with an acoustic performance, accompanied Roland on "Shine," with a fine gospel falsetto voice.

Live's last CD, released in 2006, met with moderate success. On Wednesday night, the band's driving rock anthems with spiritual inclinations lifted the spirits of the audience. They performed 16 songs, most a radio staple at one time, such as "All Over You," the first to have the audience singing along, "The Distance," "The River," and "Wings" the latter two from the most recent CD.

To the delight of the full house, Live's three-song encore closed with its biggest hit, "Lightning Crashes," beginning on a slow tempo, with Ed Kowalczk singing and guitarist Chad Taylor playing acoustic, and built to a striking arena rocker.

This concert was every bit the nostalgia fest it was lined up to be. That said, three bands separated by genre; bar band blues rock, cheesy hair band metal and driving grunge respectively, but connected by a decade, brought a nearly full house of adults to its feet and made the audience feel good, dance and sing along.

[Hoodstock]

cheesy hair band metal

"Cheesy" - Nailed CS right on the head!

[SJN1279]

Found this old review from this show today:

August 7, 2008
Tripleheader at the Chevy
Why am I doing this?
That was what I was asking myself on the way to the Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford Wednesday night to see three bands that had their heydays in the ’90s – Blues Traveler, Collective Soul and Live. Three bands, I should add, that don’t really interest me that much. Separately, I wouldn’t have made the trek to see any of these bands, but three groups in one concert, there had to be some good music to be found.
For the most part, there was.
Blues Traveler was up first and it is the only band of the three that I have seen perform live before and the only one on the bill with an album in my CD collection – a two-disc live album from 1996, “Live from the Fall.”
I was interested in seeing Blues Traveler again because the other time I saw the band was at Toad’s Place in New Haven and that wasn’t very enjoyable. The music was fine, but we were packed into the club like sardines on a steamy summer evening.
The band played for about an hour and was very tight. Singer John Popper, who attended Stamford Catholic High School, may have shed a lot of weight since his gastric bypass surgery a few years ago, but he still has a big voice. His harmonica playing was inspired, too.
Blues Traveler played a couple of songs – “How You Remember It” and “You, Me and Everything” – from the forthcoming album “North Hollywood Shootout,” due out Aug. 26 and they sounded fine. But I, like most of the crowd of about 4,000, wanted the hits. They were delivered with excellent renditions of “Run-Around” and “Hook.”
Up next was Collective Soul, which was easily the most disappointing of the three acts. I walked into the venue not being a huge fan of the band and, sadly, I left the same way. The band had some catchy grunge-lite tunes that became major hits back in the day, so I figured it would at least be an entertaining set. I figured wrong.
Most of the blame for this can be laid at the feet of the people working the soundboard. Were they the only ones in the building who couldn’t tell that the vocals were washed out by the overly loud guitars? Believe me, I love loud guitars, but I also love to hear what the heck the singer is singing. That wasn’t an option Wednesday night.
I could make out some of the songs – such as “Heavy,” “December” and “The World I Know” – and, of course, the smash “Shine.” For that song, they were joined by young singer Hana Pestle, who apparently did an opening set before the 7 p.m. start of the show.
Where Collective Soul turned ridiculous was when they left the stage and came back for an encore. The second act on the bill coming out for an encore? Idiotic. Just play your set and make way for the next band. To top that off, the band came back and played two songs I never heard before. . . . At least, I think I never heard them before. They never did correct the vocal mix, so I couldn’t readily decipher what Ed Roland was singing.
Luckily, the concert ended on a high note. Live sounded really solid and singer Ed Kowalczyk was obviously having fun on stage. The positive energy was reciprocated by the crowd, making for an electrifying set.
The group was on stage the longest, logging around 90 minutes, but unfortunately I had to leave a little past 11, missing the last 20 minutes or so.
I’m sure I missed the hits “Lightning Crashes” and “I Alone,” but I did get to see the band play “All Over You,” “Selling the Drama” and 10 or 11 other songs, including a killer cover of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line.” I wouldn’t have thought that song was open to interpretation, but Live’s atmospheric take on the song was a winner.