"Saturn on a line, a sun afire on strings and wires, that spins above my head and make it right....."

"It's the first time I ever had lemon meringue pie and I'm thinking if this is the way they eat all the time in America I won't be a bit hungry and I'll be fine and fat, as they say in Limerick. I'll have Dostoyevsky for the loneliness and pie for the hunger." 'Tis by Frank McCourt.
A couple of clips from last nights show at the Wellmont, the first of two shows, hopefully more good clips from the shows to come.
When I Dream of Michelangelo
August 17, 2010
Monclair, New Jersey
Wellmont Theatre
The gem from Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings.

Frankie Miller Goes To Hollywood
August 17, 2010
Montclair, New Jersey
A rocking version.

john.

"Looking at a green sky, sun like a red eye, bright blue horses are the fortune she lives by, she's tired and lonely, scared and depressed..."

"And perhaps sometime later, someone else will find a glass jar with one bone-colored button, add a few more. Maybe with a pinprick of thought, or maybe the story is completely gone, although there are others. Over time the jar will fill up because that's the thing about buttons, they are always falling off, they are always turning up in a house, in a life, and you don't throw them away; there will surely come a day when you need just that color, just that size. The first small button is probably still rattling around in a jar with many others, old ones, newer, all shades and sizes, bits of trailing thread. Nothing at all to set it apart; it could have belonged to anyone." The Boys In The Trees by Mary Swan.
Some new videos up on youtube from recent shows but not the best video/audio quality, so here are some from the past.
Another Horsedreamer's Blues
July 19, 2009
Friant, California
The underrated gem from Recovering The Satellites with Carl on sax.

Washington Square
July 19, 2009
Friant, California
Same show as above. Dan Layus joins the Crows on harmonica executing a good live performance of the strong Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings ballad.

St. Robinson In His Cadillac Dream
July 26, 2009
Berkeley, California
Greek Theatre
The Tom Sawyer song.....
"Bitch I hope you go to hell....."

Brief Interview/Mr. Jones/Big Yellow Taxi
July 6, 2008
London, UK
02 Wirless Festival
Hyde Park
A television highlight package, brief interview and full Mr. Jones, Big Yellow Taxi.

A Long December
June 1, 2008
Langraff, Netherlands
Pinkpop Festival

jr.

"Sleep pretty darling do not cry and I will sing a lullabye.."

"If you can't see or hear or touch a man, it's best to let him go..." East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
Nothing much new out in video land. So let's go back a little bit.
Abbey Road Medley
December 12, 2009
Asheville, North Carolina
Warren Haynes X-Mas Jam
Nailing Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End.

Round Here
December 12, 2009
Asheville, North Carolina
Warren Haynes X-Mas Jam
Good version from the same Christmas show.

Sullivan Street
June 28, 2008
Brouwersdam, Netherlands
Concert at Sea
Performing the August and Everything After song with the boys from BLOF. Good extended jam.

Meet On The Ledge
June 28, 2008
Brouwersdam, Netherlands
Concert at Sea
Again with BLOF covering Fairport Convention.

The Ballad of El Goodo
June 28, 2008
Brouwersdam, Netherlands
Concert at Sea
Again with BlOF this time covering Big Star. I love this song with Adam on vocals.

Someday I'll Treat You Good
June 28, 2008
Brouwersdam, Netherlands
Concert at Sea
And finally covering Sparklehorse once again with BLOF.

I can't wait for the dog days of August to fade into the cool colours of October.
jr.

"All at once you look across a crowded room to see the way light attaches to a girl....."

"Our memories are like a river cut off from the ocean. With time they will slowly dry out in the sun, and so we drink and drink and drink and we can never have our fill." The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu.
A Long December
July 11, 2010
Richmond, Virginia
A summery and feathered version of the winter hit from Recovering the Satellites.

Low
July 11, 2010
Richmond, Virginia
The Cracker hit performed by front man David Lowery and backed by The Crows. Very cool.

Just Like A Woman
August 4, 2009
Grand Prairie, Texas
The Dylan classic as sung by Dan Layus and Adam Duritz backed by their bands. Excellent and beautiful.

Perfect Blue Buildings
April 15, 1994
Luxor, Germany
A raw and early version of the most emotional (my opinion) song from August and Everything After.

Rain King
November 14, 2007
New York City @ The Grammercy
Most unique version of Rain King ever with vocals by Dan Layus (Augustana), Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional), John Ralston and Adam Duritz. Piano and guitar backing are most likely other memembers of Dashboard Confessional. I usually don't like background singing and talking during the performance but this time it only added to the magic of the performance. And yes Adam is the best.

Currently reading: The Boys in the Trees by Mary Swan
Most recently finished: Stories from the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean
jr.

"I have been here before and I deserve a little more......"

More clips today.
Rain King/With A Little Help From My Friends/Thunder Road/Rain King
August 7, 2010
Portsmouth, Virginia
Finally a Circus version of Rain King that is under 10 minutes and was uploaded in its entirety. Some Crows, some Beatles, some Springsteen and all of the Traveling Circus crew. Enjoy.

A Murder of One
July 24, 1999
Rome, New York
Woodstock 99
Huge crowd, full length dreads on Adam, Matt playing his bass wearing a sports jersey and Immy working for the Postal Service. What a debacle the rest of the festival turned into.

Carriage
July 26, 2009
Berkeley, California
My favourite version of this rarely played live song with Chris Bogis (drummer Jim's father) on trumpet. I love how Adam stops singing during the applause for Chris's trumpet solo and picks right back up without missing anything.

Miami
May 5, 2009
Absolute Radio Zoo
London, UK
Beautiful acoustic radio performance of the Hardy Candy concert favourite. Wait for the long pause and Immy is still working for the Postal Service, it never hurts to have a back up gig.

enjoy.
jr.

"I am covered in skin, no one gets to come in......"

A few newer clips.
Colorblind
August 9, 2010
Vienna, Virginia
The haunting darkness filtered with screams to the background of a very emotional song.

Frankie Miller Goes To Hollywood
August 4, 2010
Westbury, New York
Volume a little low but good performance with backing from the boys in Augustana and NOTAR.

Anna Begins
July 31, 2010
Atlantic City, New Jersey
My friend assures me everytime she sneezes it isn't love.

Mr. Jones
July 17, 2010
Orlando, Florida
Coming through in stereo.

Sundays
July 15, 2010
Cary, North Carolina
One of my favourites from Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. Not a concert staple so a nice treat.

Ghost Train
July 20, 2010
Sayreville, New Jersey
Haunting guitars and hollowing vocals. Simply awesome.

cheers.
jr.

"Gonna get back to basics, guess I'll start it up again..."

I have been a Counting Crows fan since early 1994 when I first heard Round Here on the radio. Since that date their music has been a huge part of my life. Though I have only seen them live once in 1999, I have followed them like eyes follow a beautiful girl. It is hard not to think of Counting Crows as just Adam Duritz because of his emotional vocals and poignant lyrics but they have always been a complete band. Despite being on their third drummer and second bassist, the group is seven now and seems to be tighter than ever.
This blog will be about chronicling their live performances through social media (mostly youtube) and give fans, visitors and doubters Counting Crows at their best which is playing live. Most of the videos will be raw as recorded at the venues and will not be as polished as those found on the bands official website. Though I plan on scouring youtube for the highest quality videos and arranging them here.
I will start with some classic clips and add new clips as they are uploaded. All clips uploaded are not my property, and email me if you want them removed from this blog.
Round Here
Sunday June 1, 2008
Holland
Pinkpop Festival
The sky and the size of the crowd add to the brilliance of this emotional song.

A Long December
Tuesday August 19, 2008
Toronto
The enthusiastic crowd and the addition of the lyrics from My Beautiful Love (I believe) by The Afters for Sara Bareilles.

Rain King/Raining in Baltimore/Rain King
June 21, 2007
Telluride, Colorado
Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Despite the crowd talking through the performance this is too beautiful a performance before a non-traditional Counting Crows audience to be ignored.

Going Back To Georgia
September 3, 2009
Central Park New York City
Adam singing with Emmy Rossum (his future and current girlfriend) on the tune he co-wrote with Nanci Griffith for her 1994 album Flyer. For those doubting Ms. Rossum's talents as a singer, there should be no doubt after listening and nice backing vocals by the boys in Augustana.

Have You Seen Me Lately
February 5, 2008
The Sauce Fuse Television Network
High Quality television performance that absolutely rocks, with a hot damn from the host at the end.

Mr. Jones
March 21, 2008
Good Moring America New York City
ABC Television Network
Another high quality television performance of this classic song. Not too many bands can take a hit song and make it sound fresh 15 years later.

You Ain't Going Nowhere
August 19, 2008
Toronto
Another highlight from the Toronto show opening for Maroon 5. The Dylan song with lyrics of utter fucking nonsense according to Adam.

I will be adding older and newer clips in the coming days. I hope to update on almost a daily basis especially when the band is on tour.
jr.