During their 19-song set at Baycare Sound last Sunday, Counting Crows played five from a new album, Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!. That seems about right. One could even argue that it’s a bit bold for a band that’s been around more than three decades and has a massive library of songs that fans are dying to hear.
But it was one of those new songs that gave the Crows’ 100-minute set a jolt. About a half-hour in, the band played “With Love, From A-Z,” a swaggering mid-tempo rocker set to a shuffle groove. From where I was sitting (in a seat, but pretty far back), the tune seemed to light a spark in lead singer Adam Duritz. He fully committed to the lyrics, a kind of love letter to America, but without the proud-to-be-an-American jingoism. Also, “A-Z” is more suited to the 60-year-old Duritz’s voice, which has deepened over the years and lost some of its upper range.
It wasn’t as if the opening six-song sequence was dreary. Kicking off with “Spaceman in Tulsa,” another new one, the Crows seemed to be finding their footing, and perhaps adjusting to what must’ve been suffocating heat on stage. With no backdrop, the setting sun shone directly behind the stage and into the eyes of concertgoers. Maybe it’s not so easy for a lead singer to rock out with the sun burning a hole in his back. Of note was Duritz’s curious style choice, at least to Floridians. He wore a jacket over a T-shirt for the entirety of the show…