Yesterday on Olympic Park in Atlanta, Drivin’ N Cryin’ and Collective Soul played a free show as the pre-kick off for some sporting event. First off, don’t hate me but I fucking hate sports and couldn’t give a rat’s ass but a FREE FUCKING CONCERT? I’m all over it. I have been a Drivin’ N Cryin’ fan for many many years and as for Collective Soul, I had seen them before and while I remembered not hating them, I couldn’t tell you just how good they were. I was reminded why on this day.
Drivin’ N Cryin’ took the stage to a very receptive and surprisingly great audience with their long time fan favorite “Honeysuckle Blue”. Kevin was all smiles and greeted the audience with a cordial greeting before slamming into “Detroit City” from their upcoming album “Whatever Happened To The Great American Bubble Factory”. This song just ripped my face off and then without any warning the kicked right into another fan favorite “Build A Fire” from their “Fly Me Courageous album.
September 5, 2009
Honeysuckle Blue
Detroit City
Build A Fire
I Stand Tall
Let Me Down
Fly Me Courageous
Straight To Hell
Drivin’ N Cryin’ really knows how to deliver a great show to their fans and the crowd was eating them up. They are a very unassuming band. They dont’ jump around and have cool “stage moves” but they just fucking rock without even trying. They just totally let the music do the talking and they let it completely rip. I loved the interplay in songs as they sandwiched in things like the main riff from “Smoke On The Water” in the middle of Fly Me Courageous and how in “Straight To Hell”, Kevn tells this hilarious story about walking down “Mayretta Street” (Marietta Street) with some girl and then kicks into “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road”. They signed off with “Straight To Hell” to a rousing response and the band was done. This was without a doubt the shortest Drivin’ N Cryin’ show I had ever seen but talk about a band making the most of their time. Short and sweet and they delivered the goods! My next thought was ok, how can Collective Soul even top this?
Well, they didn’t. We stuck around with a VERY open mind to give them a listen. Now I’ve always thought that Collective Soul was an ok band. I never thought that they really rocked much but they had some great pop songs that were catchy that even I have to say can be a guilty pleasure for me. They came out on stage and they were the polar opposite of Drivin’ N Cryin’. They had all the stage moves, the hair (including a lame ass faux hawk on the bassist) and the flashy guitars but ya know what? They had no fucking balls. There was no grit, no rawness to their sound. They sounded very synthetic and over produced as if they were trying to replicate their album sound. We made it about 5 songs in and Lady L. looked over at me and says “Let’s get outta here, I’m bored”. Gotta love it.
So Drivin’ N Cryin without a doubt brought the rock in a huge way. I think I’ve also discovered that Collective Soul is NOT a rock band. They are an adult contemporary band with a bunch of fans who think Jason Mraz is really a great “folksinger” and that Jack Johnson is really reggae! So with that being said, I’m sure Collective Soul, in their eyes really kicks ass. Lemme tell ya, they don’t rock and following Drivin’ N Cryin’ on the same stage, that was very much apparent.
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