Longtime friends Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows hit the road again
If a Counting Crows fan were to follow “A Brief History of Everything Tour” with Matchbox Twenty from start to finish, they would never hear the same set twice.
“We just love playing live,” said Adam Duritz, lead vocalist of Counting Crows, in a phone interview. “And because we change it up every night, it’s never really gotten old touring. I think the fans who have come out to shows know that they’re not seeing the same thing over and over again.”
The tour named for the two alternative rock bands’ longevity in the music industry will play the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on its first stop Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. following last summer’s successful co-headline tour.
“I’m proud and happy to still be at it,” Duritz said. “There’s a pretty short shelf life for a lot of bands.”
Matchbox Twenty burst onto the scene with its debut album “Yourself or Someone Like You” – including hits “Push” and “3 AM” – 20 years ago. Backed by lead singer-songwriter Rob Thomas’s unmistakable vocals, the band has since sold 30 million albums, reaped the benefits of multiple No. 1 singles, and earned five Grammy Awards nominations and four American Music Award nods. Next year, Counting Crows will celebrate 25 years since its breakout album “August and Everything After” featuring the hit single “Mr. Jones.”
Like Thomas, who has released three solo albums since 2005, Matchbox Twenty lead guitarist and backup vocalist Kyle Cook formed his own band, The New Left, in 2004. Cook’s duo Rivers and Rust will open for the tour at nearly 50 North American stops until Oct. 1.
Duritz said Counting Crows was set to perform a different tour but declined when it received a request from Matchbox Twenty. He is thrilled to share the stage this summer with a close friend of more than 20 years who is an impressive performer.
“Rob is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and known in my life,” Duritz said. “Spending summers with guys like that is a great thing. Rob is such a great performer and songwriter … I think our fans who haven’t seen Matchbox will probably be blown away watching Rob perform.”
No matter the tour stop, Counting Crows fans will hear a few constants. Duritz’s favorite is the 8-minute song “Palisades Park” – which describes a friendship, chaotic lifestyle and closed amusement park – from the band’s latest album “Somewhere Under Wonderland.” He called the song “the best thing he’s ever written.”
“That’s the one song that’s stayed in the set every night,” he said. “It involves me conducting the band. It has all of these starts and stops. It’s a very complicated and difficult song to play, and I’m really proud of it.”
Another song Duritz never tires of playing on tour: “A Long December” from the band’s 1996 album “Recovering the Satellites.” The lyrics exude loneliness and heartache: A long December and there’s reason to believe / Maybe this year will be better than the last / I can’t remember the last thing that you said as you were leavin’ / Now the days go by so fast.