Concert Review
Collective Soul
With Black Stone Cherry
House of Blues, Dallas
Sept 2, 2009
How does one review the BEST concert they've ever attended? Well, I'll give it a shot.
So you know, I'm no concert novice. I tried to count how many I've been to and got lost somewhere over 120...so I've seen some great shows! Name a great live classic rock band, and I've probably seen them, same with Contemporary Christian music and even some more current bands like Seether, Three Days Grace, and local favorites The Leo Project, etc.
Now, I know it sounds rather crazy to drive from Kansas City to Dallas for a concert. We'd seen Collective Soul in Herrin, IL and in KC already this year. But when we heard they were doing a few shows with Black Stone Cherry, we really hoped they would announce one nearby. But Dallas was as close as the two bands would be together, so we thought "why not?"
My son is 17 and a guitar player, and he LOVES BSC. I'm a Gospel singer (much older than 17 LOL) and have been a huge Collective Soul fan since the first time I heard "Shine" back in 1994. I'd seen them in 1996 and 2000, and then hadn't been to many concerts for several years due to an injury. So this trip was a huge leap of faith on my part, that I'd even be able to withstand the drive to Dallas and back.
The show opened with Ryan Star. Grandma always told me if I didn't have something nice to say not to say anything at all...so moving on.
Black Stone Cherry opened their set with "Rain Wizard" and it was electrifying!!! We knew BSC were great musicians, but we weren't aware how very well they draw the crowd into the music! And it was an unbelievably high-energy show! They were fantastic! "Blind Man" and "Lonely Train" were also almost musically perfect, and were a load of FUN to watch. Ben Wells' blond hair was all over the place! lol
And I was so very impressed with Chris Robertson's ability to "work the crowd". Jon Lawhon and John Fred Young were amazing musicians to watch as well. They even did an excellent cover of "Just Got Paid" by ZZ Top.
When Collective Soul came out, we knew they'd be opening with "Welcome All Again" from their new CD. Since we saw them in June, they'd seriously upgraded their light show and now had a huge banner with the CD cover on it. This added some to the show, but again, it was their amazing ENERGY that drew the crowd in! CS followed their opener with "Tremble for My Beloved", "Heavy", "Listen"...they included "Needs" which in four previous shows I'd attended, I'd never seen them do live! It was AWESOME!!! Joel Kosche, lead guitar, covered the orchestral part beautifully!
Next they got into some of the new songs, featuring "Dig" (probably my fave from the new CD), "You" and "Lighten Up" before going back to some of their older songs. Drummer Cheney Brannon brought a fresh rock energy to the band that really helped build the crowd’s excitement. As always, Ed and Dean Roland are masterful musicians and a load of fun to watch. Also, a new addition to the set list, Joel sang his song from "Afterwords" "I Really Don't Need Any More Friends" and it was great. "Better Now" ended the first part of the show. When CS came back out, Ed was wearing a BSC shirt (which I thought was great!) and they did another new song "Staring Down". Then Ed shared about his and Dean's dad having been a minister. Told how when he'd written this next song, he re-read the words and thought, "I sound just like my dad!" Then he proceeded to recite the lyrics, doing an impression of his late father, before going into "Gel". How wonderful for an artist to feel like he can share things like that with his audience!
CS closed the set with "Run" and the band slowly walked off stage, leaving Ed and his acoustic guitar to finish the song. It was beautiful, and I didn't want it to end!
I can say without a doubt this was the BEST concert I've ever attended! I hope to see both these bands again as soon as possible, and I strongly recommend anyone reading this to watch for the next visit by Collective Soul and Black Stone Cherry…these guys put on one heck of a show!
