Keene, NH (Colonial Theatre), February 28, 2013 Options

[dangum]

I Alone acoustic
Date: February 28, 2013
Venue: Colonial Theatre
City: Keene, NH

Tickets: $32

http://thecolonial.org/edkowalczyk.html


Edit: Keep any discussion regarding the billing of Ed's show to: Deceptive marketing of Ed Kowalczyk

This post has been edited by dangum: Nov 19 2012, 11:15 pm

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continue here

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Posted: Thursday, February 14, 2013 12:00 pm | Updated: 10:41 pm, Thu Feb 14, 2013.

By NICOLE S. COLSON Sentinel Staff

You can take away the amplifiers from the front man of one of the hardest rock bands of the ’90s, but you can’t take away Ed Kowalczyk’s trademark powerhouse voice — or his message.

Kowalczyk, singer, songwriter and former lead vocalist for Live, will perform an all-acoustic show Thursday, Feb. 28, at The Colonial Theatre in Keene as part of his I Alone tour.

Fans of alternative music from the post-grunge era are undoubtedly familiar with some of Live’s biggest hit songs from their 1994 multi-platinum-selling album, “Throwing Copper” — “I Alone,” “All Over You,” “Selling the Drama” and “Lightning Crashes” among them.

They’re also familiar with Kowalczyk’s image — specifically his shaved head — and earnest lyrics.

Kowalczyk, 41, has a history of being politically minded. He appeared in a 2008 video with other well-known artists supporting democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, and performed John Lennon’s “Imagine” in 2003 during an Iraq War protest rally.

“I’ve always been more interested in the politics of the soul,” Kowalczyk said in a recent interview with The Sentinel.

Raised in Pennsylvania listening to The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, he became the front man for a band in high school — the band that would later become Live. His younger brother, Adam, toured with Live, playing rhythm guitar and providing backup vocals from 1999 to 2009. Kowalczyk also left the band in 2009.

Kowalczyk said he saw his “first real concert” in 1987 — it was U2’s “The Joshua Tree” tour. “It was a watershed moment,” he said of Bono’s performance. “I got serious and dug into songwriting after that.”

When he left Live, he launched a solo career, releasing his first album, “Alive,” in 2010. Last year, he released his first solo EP, “The Garden.”

Raised a Catholic, Kowalczyk re-identified himself as a Christian a few years ago. His solo album entered Billboard’s Christian Albums Chart in the number-six position.

“I have an abiding interest in the bigger question of spirituality,” he said. “It’s part of my life regardless, but it informs what I’m doing in my music.”

Since he became a solo artist, Kowalczyk said he has taken a page out of the U2 handbook. “I’ve always looked at Bono’s lyrics as spirit-modeled,” he said. “The band’s faith is no secret — (its) music isn’t vague, yet it invites people from all walks of faith. It’s music for our journey as souls.”

Another life experience that has informed Kowalczyk’s songwriting is parenthood: He is the married father of three daughters. “It’s deepened the humanity of it,” he said of his music today. “It’s got more vulnerability — it’s about pure love and pure joy and responsibility.”

It was fatherhood that led him to partner with World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that sponsors children worldwide. Kowalczyk works with the organization in one of its many efforts to secure clean drinking water in Africa.

About three and a half years ago, Kowalczyk picked up an acoustic guitar with the idea of playing acoustic shows at venues much smaller than the concert arenas he was used to playing.

“I wanted to reconnect with both my fans and my craft at an intimate level,” he said. “In a way, it was this clarion call of a new chapter of my life.”

Now that he’s becoming more comfortable performing his solo material and Live classics without an electrified band backing him — although he does perform with bassist Chris Heerlein and occasionally with percussion — a different dynamic has developed when he’s onstage.

“Once you strip the big music out, you find out the songs are really powerful that way,” he said. “Fans feel they got a complete picture of my past and future, and (the music) doesn’t lose its intensity.”

It injects him with confidence when fans are happy after he does an acoustic show. “If the songs can stand up in that environment, really naked, it makes me happy,” he said.

In addition to playing many more tour dates in the U.S., Europe and beyond this year, Kowalczyk is working on a second full-length solo album to be released this summer.

And he’s preparing for the arrival of his fourth child.

He’s right where he wants to be.

“As an artist, my duty is to cull and mine the present moment for song ideas,” he said. “I’m living as much as I can in the present. I can’t imagine doing anything different. Some 20 years later, people are still listening to my music, appreciating and growing with me. It’s something you can’t dream about or imagine.”

Ed Kowalczyk will perform as part of his I Alone acoustic tour Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at The Colonial Theatre, 95 Main St., Keene. Tickets are $32 and can be ordered by calling 352-2033, or online at www.thecolonial.org.

http://www.sentinelsource.com/entertainmen...72deabb710.html

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Some videos from the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzeNLDMg2gE - Angels on a Razor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vORMzbDZseQ - All That I Wanted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TxVkLwrRVY - The Dolphin's Cry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9oGHjNj_RU - The Distance (partial)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_cGACzI4UI - All Over You (partial)