—————————————————— Counting Crows at Bayou Music Center, 7/29/2014 | Rocks Off | Houston | Houston Press | The Leading Independent News Source in Houston, Texas

Concerts

Counting Crows at Bayou Music Center, 7/29/2014

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As a stage act, the Crows did not get famous with witty audience banter and zany antics. Throughout the entire evening Tuesday, they almost solely interacted with the crowd through their music. For a band that became big stars, none of them behave in this vein, and none are personally big stars at all -- with the possible exception or Duritz's hair, which was crazier and more muppet-like than ever.

The concert also showcased the Crows' musical versatility. They infused "Mercury" with Texas Country, Stevie Ray Vaughan slide and 1960s soul, creating an infectious groove that made the crowd dance. New track "Cover Up the Sun" blended zydeco into the mix as it referenced Louisiana and the Texas border, which of course everyone loved. In fact, much of the Crows' music is rich with Americana, with references to cities from California to Nebraska to Ohio to the South appearing on multiple tracks.

The three-song encore looped back to "Palisades Park," a clever way to tie the show together. Counting Crows is a group of talented storytellers, and the story they told Tuesday was clear: They will continue to uphold the beauty of the songs that established them, while also producing quality new music that should only garner more fans to come.

So, How Was the Opener? Toad the Wet Sprocket shared that they have taken a 16-year break without making any new music, and it was nice to see they were excited about getting back into creation mode. Their new songs were decent and the crowd reacted favorably, but '90s hits like "Good Intentions" and "All I Want" were what really made people smile. A smart choice as an opener for Counting Crows: Toad got the crowd singing and moving and excited for the headliner.

Personal Bias: Words cannot express how happy I was that I didn't have to hear the Crows' bastardized version of "Big Yellow Taxi," which I wish would fall down a well and never return. On the flipside, "A Long December" and "Rain King" made me the happiest girl in the room, and new song "God of Ocean Tides" has inspired me to pre-order Wonderland as soon as I am done writing this article.

The Crowd: Holy khakis, Batman! This crowd was precisely what I thought it would be: white people who looked very "'90s."

Overseen in the Crowd: Is it just my luck that the one extremely iPhone-addicted girl in the whole venue had to sit directly in front of me? The second she sat down, she took a selfie with her boyfriend and proceeded to test out every filter at least three times before choosing one, posting it to Instagram and Facebook, and then checking every minute to read and respond to comments. I highly doubt she will remember anything about the concert. Hello, world: we are raising a generation of narcissists who don't actually experience anything.

Random Notebook Dump: I've never been to a show at Bayou with floor seats. It was actually pretty refreshing.

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Selena Dieringer
Contact: Selena Dieringer