Review: Counting Crows mesmerise at Christchurch Town Hall

It’s been in my head for weeks…

“Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand. She said she’d like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis.”

To be fair this is a song that’s been in my head for years, ingrained into my musical memory and forever a firm favourite.

So to hear Round Here performed live - the trembling drama, the powerful yet gently soothing vocals of Adam Duritz reverberating through the Christchurch Town Hall - was nothing short of magical.

It’s the kind of song that shifts something deep in your core - something different every time you hear it and Counting Crows fans may have had to wait for the encore to hear it last night but holy heck, was it worth it.

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The rest of the night was the musical equivalent of chicken soup for my 90s-music-loving soul as Duritz’s familiar, soothing and at times haunting voice weaved through the old, the new, the nostalgic, the heartbreaking, the heart soaring and the best of the band’s catalogue.

Christchurch was the first of Counting Crows three New Zealand concerts on their Butter Miracle tour - they’ll be in Auckland this weekend and Wellington on Monday.

Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz knows how to capture a crowd. Photo / Supplied

And what better place to settle in for the setlist than at our beloved Town Hall - a venue that offers the most spectacular acoustics following its $167 million restoration following catastrophic quake damage in February 2011.

From the first bar to the last Duritz, guitarists Dan Vickrey, David Immerglück and David Bryson, keyboard player Charlie Gillingham, drummer Jim Bogios and bassist Millard Powers mesmerised the crowd.

Counting Crows are renowned for their energetic and passionate live shows and last night they offered nothing but their best as they performed for fans, most of whom have undoubtedly been fans since purchasing August and Everything After from Sounds, The CD Store or the like. (If you know, you know.)

The publicity garb promised we would be enchanted by the band’s “intensely soulful and intricate take on timeless rock & roll”.

Correct. Very, very correct.

From Round Here, Duritz led the way through Hard Candy, If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead), the crowd pleasing Mr Jones and a harrowingly beautiful rendition of Colourblind.

It was non-stop - Durtiz and co focused more on moving seamlessly through the setlist than jabbering to the crowd between songs and we were spoilt with hits spanning all of their albums.

Butterfly in Reverse into Omaha into Cover up the Sun into Miami.

The chart topping cover of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and Recovering the Satellites and then on to the new stuff - all four tracks from their 2021 EP Butter Miracle, Suite One.

The Tall Grass, Elevator Books, Angel of 14th Street, Bobby and the Rat-Kings.

The Counting Crows, pictured here at a previous concert, performed in Christchurch last night at the Town Hall. Photo / Supplied

Could this night get any better for an old Crows fan? Yes. Yes it could.

And then, A Long December to wind up the set.

Its poignant lyrics resonate deeply with me and I’m sure many others in the crowd who are finally getting back into live performances after an excruciating few years under the hovering black cloud of the pandemic.

It’s a melancholic yet uplifting song about looking back on your life - but also looking forward.

It’s about hanging in there. It’s about acknowledging the hardship but having faith that things will improve.

“It’s been a long December, and there’s reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last,” sang Duritz.

“I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

Adam Duritz of Counting Crows. Photo / Supplied

The night ended with an encore that had almost a full house on its feet - the OG fans, the new fans, the kids in their brand new still-fold marked merch snuggled up to their parents and singing along to family favourites -

It was a beautiful trifecta of Counting Crows genius - Round Here, Hanginaround, Holiday in Spain.

Perfection.

To say we were enchanted last night, particularly by Duritz, is a dramatic understatement.

From start to finish the show was absorbing, charming and delightful - quite frankly one of the most memorable I’ve ever been to.

And I have no doubt that Maria and her boy that looks like just Elvis are going to remain part of the soundtrack to my life for many, many years to come.

‘Round here, she’s always on my mind…”