On just the second stop of their lengthy upcoming 2025 tour Counting Crows quickly proved, after nearly three and a half decades together, a band can continue to grow in musical and lyrical maturity while maintaining the signature sound that brought them to the forefront. Last evening’s show at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering, Ohio felt like something more than just a concert—it was a musical coming of age.

I couldn’t help but notice immediately while listening to the Crows’ latest release “Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets” that band frontman Adam Duritz and company serve up a suite of songs blending nostalgia with an experienced and nuanced sophistication. The album’s selections, resonate with more hope-filled finesse than earlier more brooding numbers. A few of the tracks are even viewed through a more pronounced social lens. To me, what once felt like personal confessionals now read more like poetic dispatches from a world observed with empathy. The band’s live performance on Wednesday only served to bring this to true life.

Of course, the Crows indulged the capacity crowd with many of the songs that made them famous. Expected setlist entrants like “Mr. Jones,” “Round Here,” “Rain King,” and “A Long December” had the crowd on its feet and singing along with Duritz as he delivered those ‘90s era anthems with the same gusto found on the original recordings.

It was selections from the new album, however, that broadened the collective horizons of those in attendance. Straightforward and introspective numbers like “Virginia Through The Rain,” “Under The Aurora” and “With Love From A-Z,” were all well received. There are songs on the new album though that explore broader social themes like injustice and resilience. In my opinion, the faithful listener is being treated to a more honed version of the band they’ve grown to love over the years.

Set opener “Spaceman in Tulsa” with its catchy pop starts and stops tells, according to Duritz in a recent NPR interview, of friends when he was younger having a common denominator in art, and finding a way to celebrate who they were, as opposed to hiding it. This rings true in the line;

You’re a spaceman in Tulsa, so you cover it up in clown white. All these elegant boys make such delicate toys, and they know it.

To me, “Spaceman” feels like a coming of age song for the band lyrically, yet wrapped up in the familiar packaging that fans have come to know and love over the years. It was even better live.

Overall, the new songs, told live through Duritz’s signature weathered voice and grounded stage presence were every bit as captivating as those from the band’s early years proving that bands can grow all while holding on to what has worked for them in their past.

Duritz and the Crows have largely held on to their lineup since inception with original members David Bryson (Guitar) and Charlie Gillingham (Keyboards). Longtimers Dan Vickrey (Guitar) and David Immurglūck (Guitar) are joined by new(er)comers Jim Bogios (Drums) and Millard Powers (Bass). The current makeup certainly seems to have hit its stride, and experiencing the ensemble live is a true treat.

Joining the Crows on the 2025 tour, which will cross the US, dip into Canada, and span Europe through October, are heartland rockers The Gaslight Anthem. The band’s combination of Punk, Americana, and Rock & Roll proved a worthy and welcome pairing for the evening. Their blue collar vibe, a current on which to carry the arriving crowd to just the right place for a night of great music. The Anthem shared a smattering of songs across their discography, but the crowd engaged the most with the band’s offering of staples from their 2008 hit record, The ’59 Sound. Frontman Brian Fallon’s gritty vocals and jangly guitar sound rang true on fan favorites, “Old White Lincoln,” and title track “The ’59 Sound.” They even snuck Tom Petty’s “Honey Bee into the set.

There’s a lot of tour left for Counting Crows in 2025, but don’t let them come and go from where you are without reconnecting your own maturing self with a band that has further refined itself as storytellers, seekers, and soulful observers.

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