On Friday the 14th of April 2023 I made my way to SunBet Arena at Time Square Casino in Pretoria to watch Counting Crows live. I finally got a chance to see them live and I was not disappointed.
Here’s my experience of the Counting Crows show at SunBet Arena
We arrived at the venue around 6:30 PM and made our way straight to the beer garden to grab some refreshments. Service was quicker than I’m used to at the venue and before I could start singing the lyrics to “Mr. Jones” in my head, we were tagged in and ready for the show.
I was fortunate to photograph the first three songs of their set and I was blown away from the second that I heard the chords for “Round Here” in the photo pit. The band followed this up with “St. Robinson in His Cadillac Dream” and “Mr. Jones” (the song that got me hooked on their music). I got very emotional as I was taking photos, but managed to keep the emotions in tact for the whole song.
As I was making my way towards our seats and grabbing some drinks from the bar, I heard “Colorblind” playing in the background and I was instantly transported back to the late 1990s.
Next we were treated by performances of “Butterfly in Reverse”, “Anna Begins”, “If I Could Give All My Love -or- Richard Manuel is Dead”, “God Of Ocean Tides”, “When I dream of Michelangelo” and a cover version of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”.
Counting Crows set progressed with performances of “Miami”, “The Tall Grass”, “Elevator Boots”, “Angel of 14th Street” and “Bobby and the Rat-Kings”. When they started playing “A Long December” I could not hold back the emotion and I started balling like a 15 year old and I just more emotionally entwined when I heard “Rain King”.
Counting Crows left the stage for less than a minute, but returned for an encore, playing three of my favourite songs: “Omaha”, “Hangin’ Around” and “Holiday in Spain”. The crowd and I were thoroughly impressed.
The Counting Crows show at SunBet Arena was an amazing experience. I first discovered their music in 1993 and I was glad that I could FINALLY see them live.
Thanks to Big Concerts for bringing them to South Africa again and for the opportunity to photograph one of my favourite artists from the 1990s.
Watch this space for updates in the Photography category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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