BY: Donna Mair

Ask your friends who Collective Soul is and you’ll probably get a blank stare, but hum one of their tunes and suddenly your friend’s eyes sparkle and they’re humming it with you. Considering how hugely popular they were in their heyday, I’m amazed at how many people my age are unfamiliar with the band at present.

However, touring across Canada and the USA, and having American Idol winner David Cook choosing to sing their song ‘The World I Know’, is guaranteeing not only to bring 40-something yr old fans back, but hook a whole new generation of fan!I saw Collective Soul in February 2008 at a local Casino venue and they were really good – great energy on stage by all the band members, a string of hit songs that were easy to sing along to – but although the crowd was appreciative, they never really got ‘wound up’. It seemed they were more into being entertained in comfort, than they were in participating in a rock show experience probably due in part to the venue being all reserved seating and catering to the older crowd, or perhaps also the fact that although the band played great, they never seemed to play as a ‘band’, but more as 5 lone musicians all off in their respective corners doing their own thing.

Collective Soul returned to Vancouver the other night, this time to the Commodore Ballroom; a venue with a bouncing dance floor that was packed to capacity two hours before the band came on stage! We sat (stood) through two opening acts, and the floor only became more jam packed in anticipation, and suddenly Collective Soul hit the stage running; three guitar heavy hit songs in a row fired the audience up, boosting the adrenaline rush through the roof.

Singer Ed Roland was on form to perfection – his voice was strong and melodic and he was obviously thrilled by the audience response and repaid our enthusiasm by giving back even more. A few softer songs and when the audience sang a few of the choruses he held out the microphone, all smiles as he listened to us sing. At one point he grabbed his blue acoustic guitar and it didn’t make any sound! Rather than panic as a lesser experienced musician might, he cracked a joke, handed it back to the guitar tech and they ripped into the next song without skipping a beat.

The rest of the band was energetic and put their hearts and souls into the performance as well; guitarist/keyboardist Dean Roland was the most animated I’ve ever seen him – it was a joy to watch him dancing and playing off bassist Will Turpin (also energetic and obviously enjoying himself as he played back to Dean) – smiling at the audience, and singing even though he doesn’t have a microphone. (Someone give that man a microphone!).

Drummer Ryan Hoyle was a blur – earlier a drum tech deposited 5 weighted sandbags onto the rug that holds the drum kit in place on the slippery floor – without that extra weight, I had visions of Ryan pounding the skins with such precision and fervor that they’d come toppling down! The man is simply amazing to watch. And Joel Kosche – Joel wrote one of the songs the band performs: I Don’t Need Any More Friends. Fabulous voice, excellent song, talented guitar player. Joel ripped it up all over the stage; at one point coming over to Dean’s side of the platform to get down and dirty with Will (on bass) and Dean (on rhythm guitar) – THAT was a real treat to see.

The band played most of their earlier hits, but also played quite a few from their new album ‘Afterwords’ (which came out last year) and the audience sang to most of them, getting louder with each subsequent song. At one point, Ed laughingly waved at the band to stop playing completely, just so they could hear us singing…. then they started up again, finished the song, took their bows, and said goodnight. But we weren’t about to let them get away that easy! The noise that ensued ensured that the band had no choice but to come back for an encore. They performed four more songs with amazing energy and obvious pleasure, and finished the night in style. As they sang ‘Run’, they put down their instruments and left the stage one at a time until only Ed was left playing acoustic guitar, serenading them on their way and calming us down for the final farewell. A last smile and wave from them all, the house lights come on, and a most incredible night was actually at an end.

You can find Collective Soul’s official website HERE

Related posts:

1. Collective Soul: Overcoming the Odds
2. Green Day fires it up in the Garage
3. 54-40: Poetry in Motion
4. SOUL SECRET: FLOWING PORTRAITS
5. Rocko and the Devils

August 27th, 2008   |   Tags: Music   |   Comments: