Tuesday myself, Sue, kaptaink, JJ, and Jim all headed over to Vancouver to go see Collective Soul play at the Commodore. The road trip started when we took the 3pm ferry over to Vancouver, dropped our stuff off in Tsawassen, and had dinner with the kaptains parents who were house sitting.
The doors opened at 8, and we planned to get downtown just after 8. When we got there, we were greeted with a huge lineup that was at least a block and a half long.
Once we finally got in the doors I was pretty impressed with the club. It has a huge dancefloor, lots of seating, and a few different bars to get drinks from.
The opening band was the Waking Eyes. In a word, they were awesome. They blew me away. Opening their set I was prepared for a mediocre band. As they tore into their first song, the lead singer was barely audible. I looked over at their guitar tech who was gutting himself laughing. A few seconds later he ran out and started picking at the mics. Apparently someone from Collective Soul had placed condoms over all the microphones as a prank for the Waking Eyes’ last gig of their tour. The lead singer quipped up that that was the first time he had ever had tasted a condom. He also swore that he would get them back.
Musically the Waking Eyes were excellent. Their songs were great, and their on stage presence was very strong. They were putting out a lot of energy. This was especially evident during Taking the Hard Way. The lead singer was jumping around, and every time he shook his head the sweat created a mist that surrounded him.
At the end of their set, they were greeted by the Collective Soul bassist and drummer who had a tray of shooters for them all. Very nice.
There was the prerequisite break between the bands. I hate waiting around like that.
Collective Soul took the stage and the crowd went nuts. Now I don’t know their song names very well, but I do enjoy their music. Their set was very good, but I couldn’t get over the lead singer. He was rather exuberant on the stage, and it was just weird. A lot of his hand motions, mic stand playing, posing, and jumping seemed very forced and unnatural. As this review stated, it was creepy. Once he got a guitar strapped around him, everything was good though.
They did a mini acoustic set that was pretty awesome too. He played Satellite solo acoustically and it was an excellent rendition. I kept hoping they would play Under Heaven’s Sky acoustically, but it was not to be. After they brought out the electric guitars again, they then payed the song I was waiting for. It was good, but I think it would have been better acoustic.
I was pretty happy, when they started playing Gel, one my favourite Collective Soul songs. That was when the drummer from the Waking Eyes made his appearance. He was clad only in his boxers that had been fashioned into a g string. Nice image. On his chest was the word Gel, and on his butt cheeks were CS. Very nice. The band continued to play, but the drummer went around dancing and strutting around the stage. Soon he began humping the legs of the Collective Soul band members. CS was cracking up, having a great time.
When they left the stage, the crowd erupted. It was pandemonium. The lead singer Ed Roland had promised we would be there a long time, and he was definitely right on that account. When they came back they picked up where they left off. During one song the entire Waking Eyes band came back on stage with another tray of shooters.
After their drinks Ed started noodling around playing a riff from AC/DC. The crowd liked it, so, on a whim, the band started playing Highway to Hell. The Waking Eyes, came out on stage and sang back up. It just seemed like a lot of fun. Everyone up there looked like they were having a great time.
When the show was finally over I picked up the Waking Eyes CD on my way out the door. It was late, and we had a long drive back to Tsawassen. Having been on my feet for over 5 hours was not treating my back right, and it was letting me know.
Good concert, great time.