BY: Donna Mair

I saw Collective Soul last summer when they breezed through town, and the show, while good, wasn’t memorable.

This year, with the re-release of their album Afterwards, the addition of a new drummer, a new Record Label, and already in studio writing and recording their 8th album (tentatively set to be released August 4th according to Ed Roland), the band seems on top of the world, and it shows.

After a brief introduction by an M.C (and no opening band) the lights go down and the band hits the stage opening with Counting the Days. Straight in to Heavy, Listen, and Compliment, and then front man Ed Roland addresses the audience thanking us for being so enthusiastic and loud, and introduces the new drummer, Cheney Brannon (the man is on fire!) and the crowd shows their appreciation with whistles, cheering and cat calls and the poor man smiles and blushes and soaks it all in.

A few more hits are played, and then Tremble for my Beloved is sung – a beautiful song that doesn’t always make the ‘live’ list. At one point, Ed apologizes for his voice and the crowd goes wild, obviously ready to help him sing for the rest of the night. (The band has just come from below freezing temps and notoriously dry Alberta air which is known to wreak havoc on singer’s voices).

The band is introduced by Ed; Joel Kosche on lead guitar, Will Turpin on bass, and ‘my brother Dean Roland’ on rhythm guitar and keyboards and each man is glowing and cant stop smiling, just as Ed can’t stop smiling either.

Ed then speaks to the audience in the still silence… the band has been recording and they want to try three new songs on us. The first song is called ‘Dig’ and the chorus is catchy and within seconds the crowd picks up on their part and we all yell ‘Hey Hey’ every time its our turn, and this pleases the band immensely. The second song is introduced as ‘a love song I wrote my wife for her birthday’, and it’s called ‘She Does’. Beautiful. The final new song is ‘You’ and is introduced as ‘ the first song the band has written together and we’re really proud of it’, and of the three, it’s the one I like best and I can hardly wait to hear again and again.

The band indeed is ‘together’. Last year they were a collection of musicians on stage each with their own instrument to play, and staying in their own corners. This year they are a band; cohesive, tight knit, playing off each other, moving around the stage rather than standing by their own guitar pedals and microphones. The addition of Cheney seems to have breathed new life into this band. Joel is shredding his guitar, Will is venturing closer to the audience than ever before, Dean is more animated and soaking up the appreciation of the audience, even singing loud enough for those of us in the front row to hear (even without a mic)  Even when Ed has obvious sound issues, instead of becoming frustrated by it, he simply laughs it off and lets the audience’s feedback carry him in the moment.

They end the first set with ‘ Better Now’ then come back out for an encore after the noise level hits the roof. Ed asks our permission to sing ‘Dig’ again as they need to practice it live (he also mentions shooting a video later this week, most likely for this song), and of course we all yelled yes.

‘Run’ is the last song of the evening and as the band says their goodbyes to the roaring crowd, drummer Cheney comes out to the edge of the stage to hand some lucky fan a drumstick. A young girl chooses that exact moment to launch herself onto the 4 foot high stage, and clutches a shocked and laughing Cheney in a bear hug until security extricates her and he can continue on his way. Ed waits for the new guy, laughing, and gives him an arm around the shoulder, and together they walk off the stage into the waiting darkness amid the cheers of an appreciative audience.

Related posts:

1. Collective Soul is absolutely amazing…
2. 54-40: Poetry in Motion
3. Green Day fires it up in the Garage
4. SOUL SECRET: FLOWING PORTRAITS

March 17th, 2009   |   Tags: Music   |   Comments: