Good Listening: Counting Crows – Live at the Viper Room – 6/19/95

I will wait for you in Baton Rouge
I’ll miss you down in New Orleans
I’ll wait for you while she slips in something comfortable
And I’ll miss you when I’m slipping in between
If you wrap yourself in daffodils
I will wrap myself in pain
And if you’re the queen of california
Baby, I am the king of the rain

“Goodnight Elisabeth” by Counting Crows

A brief update to add to my Counting Crows post from yesterday: I picked up the newly posted 6/19/93 San Francisco show that has been posted for download at LiveCountingCrows.com.

That would be prior to the release of August and Everything After, folks.

If you’re a Counting Crows fiend like me, you MUST head over to LiveCountingCrows.com and get a copy for yourself. It is totally worth it right off the bat with the opening two-fer of “Margery” and “Open All Night” back-to-back. The San Francisco gig was the first show for the band after completing August and Everything After, and it’s evident from listening to the recording, how eager the band was to get some of the material out there on the stage.

I FINALLY got that killer August show that I’ve been looking for!

As I began listening to it, I had to wonder why they didn’t put THIS show on the deluxe edition of August and Everything After. It’s a much better show than the one that is included on the second disc for the deluxe edition. After listening in depth, I understand why – there are a few audio dropouts in the recording, which sounds like it is a digital DAT recording.

Still, if it is true that the band has been recording every show since day one, was there not a better show from elsewhere on the August tour? I think I’ve even got a pro-shot DVD from somewhere in that touring cycle.

I was out last night with Scene buddy D.X. Ferris, talking about some missed opportunities that come to mind for me, when thinking of deluxe/legacy editions.

If you’re a music fan like me (God, help you) chances are that you can immediately think of a show in your collection that is ready for release, that tops bonus material that has been used on an existing “special edition” release.

Examples:

Lemonheads – It’s A Shame About Ray: packaged with some demos, and a bonus DVD of the 90s Two Weeks in Australia home video release. I’m guessing that most fans would have preferred either a live DVD, or a live CD sourced from one of the many radio broadcasts during that tour.

Sarah Mclachlan – Fumbling Towards Ecstasy: This one had potential to be SO cool. Instead, there’s one bonus track, and a repackaging of The Freedom Sessions, and Fumbling Towards Ecstasy live DVD. Almost nothing new for hardcore Sarah fans. I’ve got a nice show from the Fumbling tour, from Colorado that would have been cool material for a bonus disc or two.

Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral: This one is debatable, because the special features on this one, are actually pretty cool, but I’m guessing that a DVD of the Woodstock ’94 performance would have been okay with most fans. Can’t be that hard to license, can it?

How to do it right:

Check out the now out-of-print special edition of New Miserable Experience by the Gin Blossoms – a full bonus disc of various rarities, including an alternate version of “Pieces of the Night” that I love. Why is this out of print??

The new deluxe edition of the self-titled Warren Zevon album (in-stores on Tuesday) RULES – a full bonus disc of alternate, demo, and live versions of EVERY track on the album. I love what Zevon’s estate is doing with reissues of Zevon’s catalog – long overdue, and it’s being done right, thanks to Zevon’s son Jordan and others involved in the project.

ANY of the Rollins Band reissues – but if you’re a Rollins fan like me, you expect Hank to give you the goods!

Going back to Counting Crows:

Ferris and I were talking about the classic era of Counting Crows, which I consider to be the first two albums, August and Everything After, and Recovering The Satellites. Out of any of the bands that I can think of, watching the evolution of Counting Crows as a band during that period was one of my favorite things as a music fan. They were evolving as a band while touring for August, finding their footing on concert stages all over the world, and as the tour chugged onward, new material that would wind up on the next album began to find its way into the set.

These days, you expect that someone like Ryan Adams (especially Ryan Adams,) and perhaps even Wilco might throw you a bone with some unexpected new material in the set.

Pre-internet, with a band like Counting Crows, it wasn’t as easy to be a setlist stalker, and thanks to the element of surprise, there you are hearing “Children in Bloom” for the first time – what HAS to be new music from your favorite band. Now THAT is worth the price you paid for that concert ticket – hearing your favorites from the album you already own, and something NEW to boot!

In 1995, I got the ultimate preview/sneak peek at a new album. I made a trade for an audience recording of a November Counting Crows show in Los Angeles where the band dropped nearly a whole set worth of material from the not-yet-recorded Recovering The Satellites album on the unsuspecting crowd. The sound quality was pretty crummy, but for an uber-fan like myself, it was precious audio insight into where my favorite band was headed with their next studio release.

It was one of only two gigs that the band played in 1995, as Duritz immersed himself writing songs for the pending new album.

Here’s the other one – a soundboard copy of a super-small club gig at Johnny Depp’s club, The Viper Room.

The quality is far from mint, but hearing songs you know with different lyrics and a generally loose vibe onstage make this an interesting listen for Counting Crows fans. This would have been a dream gig to attend, without a doubt.

Dig it.

Counting Crows
Live at The Viper Room
West Hollywood, CA
6/19/95

disc one:

complete zipped download

Have You Seen Me Lately
Children in Bloom
Round Here
Daylight Fading
Anna Begins
Margery
Ghost Train

disc two:

complete zipped download