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Title: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Photos Post by TruexBlue on Jul 3rd, 2006, 6:35am Sunday, July 2, 2006 Counting Crows: Rearranged, revealing, riveting Review: They proved there�s plenty life left in �em at Irvine show, but the Goo Goo Dolls merely droned. Article: BEN WENER Photos: Kelly A. Swift The Orange County Register Let me explain. Two Fridays ago, in my Pop Life column, I wondered if the endlessly touring, slow-to-record Counting Crows were out of gas. It has been four years, I pointed out, since the band issued a proper new album, biding its time instead with cash cows like a retrospective and a recently released live disc. That�s enough to make any fan wonder if the group that a dozen years ago emerged as a new torchbearer for classic American rock � the sort handed down by the Band, Springsteen, Grateful Dead and the like � was now on a fast-track to irrelevance. Could it be that the Crows� fragile, prickly, lovably insecure vocalist-songwriter Adam Duritz has lost his inspiration, or just run out of meaningful things to say? The necessary response to that question remains unheard. Earlier this month, when the band�s tour with subpar partner the Goo Goo Dolls stopped in Las Vegas, Duritz reportedly told the crowd that the recording of a double-album, tentatively titled �Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings,� was well underway. In fact, the first half (the presumably raucous and electric �Nights� portion) was done; the Crows intend to cut the acoustic �Mornings� comedown this fall. Yet rather than use this summer outing as a chance to test out completed material � and flesh out the gone-mad approach of �Saturday Nights� as a means to palpably feel its sunrise hangover � Duritz and his six steady collaborators aren�t touching the new stuff. It�s hard not to be disheartened by that. Last Thursday, the night before the Crows headlined Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, I watched Radiohead bravely unveil eight fresh tracks before throngs of die-hards eager for more. That the Crows weren�t willing to treat longtime devotees to even one new morsel suggests they have no faith in their fans� attention spans. Which becomes a bewildering thought when you sit through 90 riveting and revealing minutes from the band at Verizon � and realize that most of that time they�ve done nothing but challenge true believers with emotionally wracked, radical rearrangements of beloved songs. http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/life/2006/07/03googoo1.jpg No sideshow: Adam Duritz and the Counting Crows captivated true believers with a riveting performance that featured new takes on the band's classics. Take this night�s slower, aching rendition of �Rain King,� an epic version that momentarily drifted into another song (�Raining in Baltimore�) and several passages of soulful lyric repetition � la Van Morrison in the early �70s. Or consider the warmth the players brought to the Dead�s �Friend of the Devil,� gently enveloping Duritz�s barely restrained passion in that tune�s sheriff-on-my-trail bridge. And notice just how much Duritz threw himself into all of his well-worn gems, overdramatizing elliptical storytelling for heightened effect, tossing his barefoot and alarmingly hefty frame across the stage like a spastic drunk achieving transcendent clarity while teetering on the brink of a mental abyss. I�ve seen the Crows four times since �Hard Candy� arrived in 2002, and not once were they so instinctive and free musically, nor was Duritz so overcome, compelling and intent on profoundly reshaping some of his best work (though I hear the group�s Wiltern gigs in December 2003 were also something to behold). What�s more, he�s rarely been so heartwarming and open. "�What else is this show if not about what�s happening to me right now?� he joked, but for once such self-deprecation didn�t steer toward pity. This was therapeutic. Often he shared so much about the meanings of songs that the unexpectedly intimate performance felt like a counseling session, especially when Duritz related lengthy tales about a former flame he left emotionally bruised (making �Black and Blue� more poignant) and the car crash (not his own) and hospital recovery that led to �A Long December.� The latter tune was conveyed so movingly, its author so withdrawn into his memory yet still inviting visitors � �If you�ve listened to this song a thousand times,� he told sympathizers, �then it�s pretty much about you, too� � that it stands as the highlight of all the Crows concerts I�ve witnessed. But the entire set � which ran past sound curfew, leading Duritz to announce before an encore of �Holiday in Spain� that �we�re gonna pay an enormous fine for this� � set me straight on a number of counts. Primarily that Duritz isn�t anywhere near being washed up. Frustration over being deprived new songs was balanced out here by the confidence the band applied to the old songs. And the new life that dreads-mopped Duritz breathed into �Anna Begins� and �Mrs. Potter�s Lullaby� and a thoroughly unhinged take on �A Murder of One� render any notion of a permanent dry spell inconceivable. He just takes forever to formulate fresh ideas, that�s all. That the Crows consented to criss-cross the country with the Goo Goo Dolls, however, is almost unforgivable. As that expanded-for-touring trio proved again and again during its 75-minute set, there are few outfits in rock more ordinary, predictable and teeming with hackwork. The last group I can remember that was this bland yet widely enjoyed was Loverboy. Of course, I get why the Dolls are so popular: Johnny Rzeznik. He remains the poor girl�s Paul Westerberg (�Name� being the greatest Replacements ripoff ever), a heart-on-sleeve kinda guy as hunky as Gavin Rossdale and whose dominant themes, as far as I hear, are romance and angels. Women of all ages eat up that sort of pose till they feel bloated. But I feel ill from the get-go, and have a hard time even giving these guys credit for professionalism; compared to, oh, Matchbox Twenty, their transparent formula collapses faster than a house of cards stacked beneath a ceiling fan. Worse, Rzeznik doesn�t even have the good sense to pull out a 12-string when covering Supertramp�s �Give a Little Bit.� This is the third time I�ve wallowed in Goo Goo muck, and each time I�ve been left pondering the same thing: How much more ham-fisted can you get? http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/life/2006/07/03googoo2.jpg Still at it: Johnny Rzeznik, left, and Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls showed off the band's trademark mediocrity. Counting Crows & the Goo Goo Dolls Where: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Irvine When: June 30 http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/homepage/article_1200553.php Stay True & Rock On! Triest :jammin: |
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Ph Post by Rockin_Munchkin on Jul 3rd, 2006, 7:39am Ouch that hurt |
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Ph Post by Shannon on Jul 3rd, 2006, 9:55am That was extremely painful. I saw this the other day and opted not to post it because of the negativity. So many of these music critics have a preconceived notion of the Goos and never really stop to listen to the show and give them a chance. � >:( Anyone who's ever seen this band live knows this is where they shine. |
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Ph Post by Skkyer on Jul 3rd, 2006, 11:54am Meanwhile, the GGD laugh all the way to the bank. How many people know the name of the critic? How many people know the names of the members of the Goo Goo Dolls? I wonder if this guy has been a music critic for 20 years and if he'll still be one in 20 years. As a child did he say "Gee, I want to grow up to be a music critic?" I bet not. OK, I'm done ranting. Hugs, Skkyer |
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Ph Post by rzezniksangel on Jul 3rd, 2006, 8:30pm Wow....I wouldn't even know how to reply to that.... :-X |
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Ph Post by GlitteringGoo on Jul 3rd, 2006, 11:31pm I'm thinking this reporter had a bad experiance while hearing a Goo song or at one of their shows and holds that thought with them and blames the band for whatever happened instead of putting the blame on themsleves. Either that or they deep down love the Goo's but from friends or such it's not cool too so they are doing a super harsh review. I'm in Mass Comm so I know how to read between the lines of reporter's trash and that's what it reads to me. They obviously know too that trash is what people crave so why not go for the throat. Fuck that reporter, awesome they don't like Goo no one forces anyone to but there's a tackful way to not say you like a band or something and this reporter obviously skipped that day of class. |
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Ph Post by nmf016 on Jul 3rd, 2006, 11:59pm Two things stand out to me about this article: 1. The critic seems to be insulting the female fans of the Goos just as much, if not more, than the Goos themselves. 2. The critic brings up something Adam Duritz said on this tour in Las Vegas, but the CC/GGD tour hasn't set foor in the state of Nevada so I have a hard time trying to understand anything he says. Maybe he didn't even see the CC/GGD show. He was just confused. Quote:
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO & Post by [Joelage] on Jul 4th, 2006, 3:09pm this guy seems misguided about what 'cover songs' are. Because the original band used a 12 string in 'give a little bit' doesnt mean that a cover of that song needs one too, its someone elses intepretation of a song. I bet this guy likes Linkin Park.. |
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Ph Post by Johns_chick on Jul 4th, 2006, 6:51pm HE SUCKS!!! >:( |
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Title: review Post by hereisgone591 on Jul 5th, 2006, 5:38pm those f*ckers. WEll someone envies GGDs for their fame to write a crappy review like that. my opinion anyways! |
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Title: Re: A ROTTEN Review for GOO � � � � � � � � � � Ph Post by blessed_by_goo on Jul 5th, 2006, 9:09pm I posted this over at IM and it's up to like 76 replies and let me say.... NO ONE is impressed! Theres even a few responding with letters to the editor! INCLUDING myself..... I can't stand assholes like that. entitled to an opinion ...YES! to this extreme ..... Absolutely not~! |
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