Playlist Rewind: Counting Crows at the Borgata

The Saturday Night Rebel Rockers

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We went into the Saturday Night Rebel Rockers show at the Borgata a couple weeks ago—we know, this is long overdue—with a little bit of trepidation. After all, we were really going primarily, if not exclusively, because we're big Counting Crows (MySpace) fans. We were less than familiar with Michael Franti & Spearhead (MySpace), and the one time this Phillyist saw Augustana (MySpace), I was a little...underwhelmed. All told, we thought we'd really rather have just seen a Counting Crows headlining show, but we figured we'd take what we could get—a mishmash of the three bands playing together, swapping members, each individual band (in no particular order) playing its own songs at times. There had been some good buzz on this uniquely-formatted tour, so maybe it was our curiosity getting the best of us, but we weren't really prepared to love the show.

About ten seconds after the Rebel Rockers took the stage, though, the lovefest was on. Everything about the concert worked, starting with all 18 performers from all three bands on stage at once, opening the show with, appropriately, a cover of Van Morrison's "Caravan" featuring Adam Duritz, Michael Franti, and Dan Layus trading off on lead vocals. Right from the get-go, it was clear the show was more about the musicians enjoying playing music together than about trying to impress the audience. But the unadulterated joy and energy on display on stage made the show impressive, to say the least. Durtiz was a little under the weather, but still managed to put on a characteristically strong performance, and Layus and the rest of Augustana were surprisingly enjoyable. Their "Fire" in the second half of the show was a particular highlight.

But the real stars of the show were Michael Franti & Spearhead. They were the headliner of a show where we were covering Tom Morello. We had a pretty lousy experience at that show, so we left before Franti and his ensemble took the stage. In retrospect, that was probably a big mistake, because he would have cheered us up greatly. Fortunately, everything about the Saturday Night Rebel Rockers show was positive, and Franti was just the highest of the high. (Read into that what you will.) If the Saturday Night Rebel Rockers show really was a "Traveling Circus," Franti would have been the lead clown—complete with involving members of the audience in his show, by bringing up two people to "play guitar" during one song and the two of the cutest little kids in the world to help sing "Say Hey (I Love You)." He has an infectious stage persona, infectious music, and absolutely killer musicians in his band. Vocalist Cherine Anderson is a particular star-in-the-making. A Jamaican who is about to turn a mere 25, Anderson has the voice, the look, and the stage presence to be a real breakout performer.

Counting Crows, the best known of the three acts, though not the "headliners," were awesome—which is what we've come to expect from them. Unlike other tours where Counting Crows has given equal time to other bands, though, their Rebel Rockers comrades more than held their own. The really impressive aspect of the Saturday Night Rebel Rockers show was that we left fully satisfied with the experience, and not just wishing it was more Counting Crows and less everyone else.