Thank god for WXPN – as usual they’ve brought the goods with NPR’s latest World Cafe show, featuring Counting Crows live, previewing eight (yes, I said eight) songs from their forthcoming album, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings.
We’ve already previewed some of the new songs here before, so I won’t be posting the whole set (but if you’re really desperate, then drop a comment here and let me know; perhaps we can work something out). That said, this show exemplifies one of the reasons I feel Counting Crows is one of the greatest live acts around: Adam goes into great detail to give you the backstory of each song, and really makes you feel part of a greater experience; as if we’re all sharing the same journey, the same ride.
As mentioned in our previous post about the album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings is really a double album: The “Saturday Nights” half is ostensibly the more “rock” half, and the “Sunday Mornings” the more acoustic. On this World Cafe show (which was aired on February 8th), Counting Crows performed four songs from each side. I’ll be posting one song from each half for now; the first is “Cowboys” from the “Saturday Nights” section, and the second is “Washington Square“, from the “Sunday Mornings” section.
I could try and write up an analysis of each song. But really, who can do it better than Adam himself? So I’ll leave the smart words to him, in his introduction to each song. I will say this though; I’ve been hesitant to get excited about this album. This set might just have changed that.
Again, if you’d like me to post the whole set, then drop a comment and let me know.
Listen. Love. Support.
Listen: Counting Crows – Cowboys (live on WXPN/World Cafe)
Listen: Counting Crows – Washington Square (live on WXPN/World Cafe)