CONCERT PREVIEW
Counting Crows
With Toad the Wet Sprocket. 7 p.m. Sunday. $35-$55. Chastain Park Amphitheatre, 4469 Stella Drive NW, Atlanta. 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.
Counting Crows arrived in 1993 with not so much a bang, but a cerebral jolt.
The distinctive tone of frontman Adam Duritz’s voice proffered an authentically pained expressiveness, whether ruminating on “’Round Here” or cautiously courting stardom in “Mr. Jones,” and the band’s debut, “August and Everything After,” eventually sold more than 7 million copies.
More than 20 years and a career punctuated with gaps, shifts in drummers and bassists, Duritz’s public battle with a dissociative disorder and about a dozen radio hits later, Counting Crows remain a steady presence.
In September, the band will release “Somewhere Under Wonderland,” its seventh studio album and first collection of original material in six years.
Earlier this month, the band — Duritz, drummer Jim Bogios, guitarist David Bryson, bassist Millard Powers, lead guitarist Dan Vickrey, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham and guitarist/mandolin/banjo player David Immergluck — launched a tour with fellow ’90s radio staples Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Recently, a very frank Duritz chatted about playing Chastain Park Amphitheatre — where they’ll head on Sunday — as well as the new album and why you might not hear all of their hits live.
Q: So what was the process like working on this new album?
A: After our tour last August, I had some of the guys (in the band) come to my house. We just kind of wrote all of the songs and they were there for me to bounce stuff off of. I was writing in a different way. I don't think I would have been able to write this album by myself. The songs are different lyrically and come from a different perspective — not so much first person all the time and with a little bit of a sense of humor. I've never really used that in writing. I think it's the best record we've ever done. I love them all — and they've all been exactly what I've wanted them to be — but this one is very listenable.
Q: Are you worried that people will come to the shows expecting a repeat of your ’90s catalog or do you think your fans have been willing to grow with you?
A: I don't know and I just don't care. Our set list changes every night. Nothing sacred needs to get played every night. I'll text the band, "Anything you want to play tonight?" We have a lot of songs and it reminds us that we haven't played (a certain one) in a while. The actual set list doesn't get made until dinnertime and we take people's suggestions into mind. I don't want to get sick of my own songs. If I played them every night, I'd get sick of them. I feel you owe people a good performance; you don't owe them a set list.
Q: You’ve frequented Chastain (the band played there in 2009 and 2010). Are you ever distracted by the extracurricular activities in the crowd?
A: I didn't notice that for the longest time at Chastain. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the idea of Athens. It was this mythical place where all these bands came from. It was, literally, Oz for me. The 40 Watt Club was at the top of the list of places I wanted to play. The guys from R.E.M. came out to our very first show there. Our drummer (Ben Mize) was from Athens, so coming to Georgia was like coming home (Mize left the band in 2002). But at Chastain, it was literally a few years ago that it occurred to me that people were talking and eating. The noise limitation there makes it a bit quieter, and I finally looked up and noticed, "Oh. They're all eating." I'm not usually that oblivious. But I can't get too concerned about crowds. When your whole crowd is standing and screaming, it's awesome, but it's not their job to entertain me. The only thing you can depend on is you and the band. You can't get too worried about what's going on in the crowd; it's too distracting to worry about that (stuff) too much.
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