By Sara Kaplow (October 31, 2002)

Believe it or not, Adam Duritz, the dreadlocked lead singer of the Counting Crows appeared in concert on Sunday and was smiling. Why is that such a shock you may ask? Well, if you have ever listened to almost any Counting Crows song you would know that the songs, written almost exclusively by Duritz himself, are not generally happy. In fact, the meanings of their songs fit almost perfectly into two categories; dealing with and acquiring fame, and heartbreaking, dysfunctional relationships. As one critic of the band once remarked (and I’m paraphrasing here) "heaven forbid Adam Duritz should ever have a functional relationship."

The concert revealed another side of Duritz. Despite singing the same songs that made the group famous, he seemed upbeat and energetic, even on the more emotional songs such as "A Long December" and "Raining in Baltimore." It was a pleasant surprise to be confronted with this Duritz; the concert was exceptional. Possibly it would have been equally wonderful had Duritz been in his typical melancholy mood, however there was certainly extra energy in Sunday’s performance.

Before the Crows took the stage, the opening act, the Graham Colton Band (from Dallas, Texas, as they constantly reminded the crowd) entertained. A relatively new and unheard-of band, they performed about eight songs and really warmed up the audience for what was to come. Their sound was not completely new either; they create an interesting mix of Oasis and Third Eye Blind. Hopefully, sometime soon they will be joining the ranks of the ever-growing popularity of the punk rock type bands. They will return in November for a concert sans the Crows. 

At about 9 PM the main act took the stage, opening with this reviewer’s favorite song, "Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby," rumored to be written about actress Monica Potter. For the rest of the show the group performed a mix of their older songs ("Mr. Jones," "Rain King," and "Round Here") and the songs off of their new album, Hard Candy, released this past summer. The other members of the group, Dan Vickery, Ben Mize, Matt Malley, David Immergluck, Charlie Gillingham, and Dave Bryson played a variety of instruments, including the accordion and the electric sitar, which added variety to the music. The backdrop of the entire concert was an elaborate, yet appropriate light scene that changed depending on the mood of the song.

The group performed without much interruption for over two hours, stopping just a few times to push issues that are important to the band. The Crows pick a few charities per tour to promote and, due to the locality of this particular concert, their cause was an environmental group committed to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. Duritz, who is from Baltimore, mentions the bay in some of his songs, including a line in "Saint Robinson and his Cadillac Dream" that goes "I was born on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay/Maryland and Virginia have faded away." That line drew large cheers from the crowd made up of mostly American University and George Washington University students. His other cause was fairly direct; go out and vote.

The concert left nothing to be desired. It completely fulfilled my hopes as a first time CC concert-goer. From wondering why there was a dog wandering around on stage to screaming along with some of my all time favorite songs, it was a great experience. Finding out that one’s favorite band actually IS all that it promised to be can be a rare occurrence, but a wonderful one; I’m just glad it was the Counting Crows that were able to live up to expectations.