Two concerts in (barely over) a week. This time, it’s Collective Soul.
I had a thing for Collective Soul around 1995, largely as a result of my friend (and roommate) Duncan. We both played it, a lot. And it remained in my collection, off and on, for years thereafter.
When Jeremy pinged me that they were playing Grey Eagle, how could I say no? I mean, it took nearly 20 years for me to see Blue Rodeo, 30 years for another band wasn’t much of a stretch…
Grey Eagle is a great venue for concerts. (The only thing bad about Grey Eagle is their “event parking”, which is a colossal pain in the ass to get out of when the event’s over.) And Jeremy always gets great seats through his Amex “Front of the Line” thing. We were four(?) rows from the stage.
The first band up was a local one called Jade Elephant. Apparently they’re known already in some circles, and for good reason – they’ve got some serious unpolished talent. And that’s the key word here, folks: watch out for them – assuming no egos detonate the band, these guys will go places.
The lineup of Collective Soul, like many bands from that era, is not the same as it was when I first listened to them. Some of the band members have left and gone on to do other things, but the core – brothers Ed and Dean Roland, and bassist Will Turpin – are still there, so the band sounds much the same as it always has.
And how Ed can still sing those notes after all these years is astounding. Just goes to prove what practice and skill can do for an aging voicebox.
All the major hits, all of which the audience knew. I was surprised to see so many younger folks there, given that the bulk of Collective Soul played on the air comes from the one album in 1995. Even more so was the kid (whose name now escapes me) that was brought up on stage to play a drum with drummer Johnny Rabb. I’m guessing that the kid was a Make A Wish Foundation grantee, and I sincerely hope the kid loved every second of the show, he certainly got a lot of attention, even from the audience.
And an AC/DC hat. The band played AC/DC (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap), some guy came up from behind us with an AC/DC had for Ed to wear, which he did, and when it came time to give it back, the owner wasn’t to be found, so gave it to the kid. (The owner eventually did appear, but seemed to be talked out of getting the hat back.)
There was no encore, however, which is the first time I’ve seen a concert without one. To be honest, I was fine with that, though – I saw what I wanted to see, heard what I wanted to hear. There is something special about encores, but I think they’re also treated as an expected part of the concert, rather than a reward for being a great audience.
(I also understand that Ed’s back was killing him, so being able to handle an entire set is pretty impressive. I hope he does feel better soon.)
