Counting Crows – Spark Arena, March 25, 2023: Concert Review

Counting Crows performed at Spark Arena last night with the same mastery of eclectic sound and charm they’ve shown for 30 years, delighting the audience with their soulful poetry and engaging stage presence.

 Counting Crows have made memorable contributions to the soundtrack of my life at various, unconnected points throughout the past 30 years, which meant I jumped at the opportunity to see the band perform live last night at Auckland’s Spark Arena, assuming it would be a reasonably relaxed concert with energy somewhere between Hozier and The Pixies.

It’s generally considered a sin to include – let alone open with – a personal anecdote in a review, but as always I promise there’s some questionable depth behind it, and I use it because in this instance I can confidently assume it was a relatable statement to 90 per cent of the audience, and also the majority of any fans that may have missed out on last night’s gig.

But the beauty in that statement is its broad application to so many different lives and personal subjective moments, where the longevity and creative consistency of the band create generational layers of appreciation for their catalogue throughout the audience, and where a live performance unifies this through a blunt vulnerability when addressing the crowd between their most memorable hits.

This confidently vulnerable expression was present in the opening act, Frank Turner, who immediately captivated the audience with little more than his folk punk acoustic guitar and explosive vocal delivery, building energy and anticipation within the crowd for both the headliners and his return to New Zealand to perform again later this year.

Counting Crows took to the stage shortly after to wild applause, diving into Hard Candy, St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream and early fan-favourite Mr. Jones, before Colorblind highlighted the power of vocalist Adam Duritz’s voice, each song altered slightly in delivery to the messy dismay of singalong fans, but with a consistency that soon grew to form an entirely unique and unforgettable performance.

Duritz addressed the crowd a handful of times throughout the nearly two-hour set, from a playful story about his regret at cancelling a previous performance due to illness that segued into a personal story about his girlfriend before Butterfly in Reverse, to an insightful view on the bittersweet nature of performing that preceded God of Ocean Tides; how each show, audience, and their connections demand consistency of leaving everything behind every night, resulting in an acutely precious and sacred concept of ‘home’.

Following the slick solo guitars of Miami, the group performed their latest four-track EP, Butter Miracle, which saw the crowd’s energy settle slightly at being exposed to new, less-ingrained material, before Rain King and A Long December brought most of the audience back to their feet in mutual, reasonably harmonious singing and appreciative applause.

A final encore of anthemic favourites Round Here, Hanginaround, and Holiday in Spain satisfied the final setlist-checklist fans and drew out the last energy from the 11 p.m. all-ages crowd, rounding out the impressively packed set before a final, prolonged applause followed the band from the stage.

It was the total reflection of the evening that spawned my opening blasphemy and the beauty of subjective musical discovery because, even being a beautifully entwined set of nostalgia, poetry, musical mastery and intimate expression, the experience felt greater than its individual, memorable parts – and it’s precisely the reason I fall in love with live music over and over again.

Part of it is the perspective and insight poured into the lyrics, giving each song and its varied performances a parallel but unique every time, but a greater part seems to be the yearning for connection, understanding, and meaning surrounding it – the sense of familiar discovery and rediscovery through reflection over years of performing.

It’s this crucial part that bonds the crowd through each known, shared, and newly learned favourite song, and also what keeps them enthralled, willing to embrace new material as much as the old, and what continues to weave this shared appreciation through another generation of fans and beyond.

And this is both the bittersweet melancholy expressed to the audience and the lasting value of Counting Crows themselves; to create powerful, beautiful connections through performances that are immediate and eternal for the crowd, and the willingness to share this tirelessly at the cost of their own fleeting connections. For them, I can only hope New Zealand felt like home.

Oxford Lamoureaux

Click any icon to view a fully gallery of stunning photos by Leonie Moreland. Including opener Frank Turner.

Counting Crows

 Frank Turner

Counting Crows Setlist Auckland 2023

Hard Candy
St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream (Crimson & Clover)
Mr. Jones
Colorblind
Butterfly in Reverse
Omaha
I Wish I Was a Girl
Anna Begins
Palisades Park
Blues Run the Game (cover)
God of Ocean Tides
Miami
The Tall Grass
Elevator Boots
Angel of 14th Street
Bobby and the Rat‐Kings
Rain King
A Long December

Encore
Round Here
Hanginaround
Holiday in Spain