- Music
- 25 Jun 15
Looking more like bright young things than veterans closing in on a silver anniversary, Counting Crows made a long-anticipated return to the Irish stage last night
HP's snapper Kathrin Baumbach was front and centre to capture the action - check out her photo gallery here - to check out who we met while out and about, click here.
Adam Duritz does not look like a man of 50. Neither does he act like it, energetically conducting both the audience and his band. Leaving the stage, he pledges it won’t be long before Counting Crows return to Irish shores – for many in attendance, the countdown starts now.
This was, if truth were told, a show for the hardcore. An unshakable confidence in their new material is what keeps the band going, almost 25 years after inception; the Somewhere Under Wonderland tour is not merely a title.
The show leans heavily on their new material. At times, that’s no bad thing; ‘Palisades Park’ is as good – and as rapturously received – as anything the band has ever done. ‘Cover Up The Sun’ might be a little towards hoedown territory, but with the evening sun streaming across the RHK grounds it seems perfectly fitting.
It’s notable, though, that the band seem to deliver their best-known tunes with something approaching dismissive abandon. ‘Round Here’ is a low-key opener, while ‘Mr Jones’ – which famously references Bob Dylan – is rattled through in talky bursts of which Mr Zimmerman himself would likely approve.
The burger-munchers and tipple-sippers hanging at the back might be disappointed by that, but the dedicated fans are far from troubled; from a delicate ‘A Long December’ to a rousing ‘Accidentally In Love’, there’s plenty here to enjoy.
A grandstand finish might not materialise – ‘Holiday In Spain’ was a chart-topper in Holland, but not far beyond - but in itself that tells a story; Counting Crows are a living, breathing band, and this was simply one more chapter in a continuing story. Let’s hope the next update arrives soon…