[Article] Thisweek News (columbus, Ohio) Options

[dangum]

LIVE on first world tour since 1991
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 12:16 PM
By Jim Fischer

Never a band to begrudge its fans the songs they want to hear, Live is going all-in for its current tour, a career-thus-far retrospective.

The world tour is the band's first since the release of its debut CD, Mental Jewelry, in 1991, that hasn't been tied to the release of new material.

"We try to touch on every album every night, or come pretty darn close," Ed Kowalczyk, frontman and main songwriter for the Pennsylvania quartet, told The Beat. "We've never been the type of band to mess around with the hits, to play them grudgingly or re-arrange them. We like to play these songs as much as people like to hear them."

While many of those hits come from the band's 1994 sophomore smash Throwing Copper -- Lightning Crashes, I Alone, Selling the Drama, All Over You -- the band has seen continued success, if not to those same lofty heights, with The Dolphin's Cry from 1999's The Distance to Here, Overcome from 2001's V and more.

Past success can be "in the back of your mind when making a new record," Kowalczyk admitted, but he suggested Live's strength has been its "meat and potatoes approach to making music" and its commitment to "performing concerts with energy and passion. Those things have really paid off for us. The fans keep us energized."

Kowalczyk, guitarist Chad Taylor, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer and drummer Chad Gracey started playing together in their mid-teens in York, Pa., never imagining they'd still be at it 20-plus years down the road.

"I don't think we ever thought that far in advance," he said. "We think of it more like closing our eyes and jumping. In fact, our eyes are still closed and we're still jumping."

He admitted that familiarity among his longtime mates can breed a comfort level that is both a "good thing and a limiting thing."

"You can get so used to each other that you tend not to push boundaries," he explained. "We're happy as a band, but we've got to keep the pressure on ourselves."

As a band with a long history that's still relatively young, Kowalczyk sees plenty of opportunity for his band to spread its wings.

"There definitely are things emerging in my creativity right now," he offered. "I'm not saying any more, but I feel like I'm 37 going on 27."

For more from The Beat's interview with Ed Kowalczyk, check out the BeatBlog at www.ThisWeekNews.com.

*** thanks to Bob who emailed me the link to the story ***

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/b...liveENT_ln.html

[Pokey]

Something from each album huh? I suppose that is true, just happens to be the same somethings from each album all the time
But positive to hear it's still onwards an upwards.

[tswart1]

What the hell?!?!? Maybe they meant first world tour since 2001. I think last yr or the year before was their first world tour since 2001. Maybe that monkey ripped off some interview and quotes and got the facts wrong.

[SecretInsomnia]

As a band with a long history that's still relatively young, Kowalczyk sees plenty of opportunity for his band to spread its wings.

"There definitely are things emerging in my creativity right now," he offered. "I'm not saying any more, but I feel like I'm 37 going on 27."

in the other interview the 'exploring new things' was about Ed and solo stuff, and now it's suddenly applied to the whole band? what is all of this about?