Counting Crows announce 'Somewhere Under Wonderland' summer tour

Touring pop rock mainstays Counting Crows will hit the road again this summer on the Somewhere Under Wonderland tour supporting the album Somewhere Under Wonderland that was released last year.

Counting Crows, with support from Citizen Cope and Hollis Brown, will play Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh on Wednesday, August 12. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 17, via the Duke Energy Center box office and Ticketmaster for $29.50 to $65. Some pre-sales have already begun.

Check out Counting Crows performing the song "Scarecrow" from Somewhere Under Wonderland on the CBS Morning Show below.

Counting Crows announce summer tour with Toad the Wet Sprocket

Pop rockers Counting Crows haven't released a new album of original material since 2008's double album Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings (they released an album of covers in 2012 titled Underwater Sunshine and a series of live albums in recent years, most recently Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow last year) but that's not stopping them from gearing up for a big summer tour with fellow 1990s rockers Toad the Wet Sprocket.

The pair will play the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh on Wednesday, June 25. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 21, via the Duke Energy Center box office and Ticketmaster for $29.50 to $65.

Counting Crows' 'Traveling Circus' simply doesn't work

Thursday night brought Counting Crows' "Traveling Circus & Medicine Show" tour to Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre, which frankly, was a big flop.

The idea of the tour is that instead of the supporting acts, Augustana and Notar, playing traditional opening sets, the night would be one big show, with band members joining in on each other's songs resulting in a harmonious and unique show. What we ended up with is a 24-song set completely lacking flow in which only ten of the songs are Counting Crows songs. The other 14 songs were either covers or songs by Augustana or Notar.

The curtain came up with all the members of Counting Crows, Augustana and Notar on stage. The crowd stood and grooved to the first six songs, starting with a cover of Van Morrison's "Caravan" and then their classic "Omaha." The crowd even stayed excited for the hip hop song "Stranger" by Notar, who put on a good show and was joined by Adam Duritz for the song.

Counting Crows announce summer tour, playing Cary

Counting Crows are a band that just keeps on kicking, but very slowly. They remain a strong touring entity, while the band's album output has been incredibly slow. In 17 years, the band has only released five albums and their latest is 2008's double album Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings.

The band will be hitting the road this summer for a few months on a tour dubbed the Traveling Circus & Medicine Show. The tour will stop at Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre on Thursday, July 15. Augustana will open the show. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 14 at 10 a.m. here for $39.50 or $59.50.

Check out the video for "You Can Count On Me" from Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings after the jump along with the band's complete tour schedule.

Counting Crows announce dates, head to Charlotte, Myrtle Beach

Counting Crows are gearing up to hit the road this summer, this year playing some smaller venues on their own this time instead of partnering up with another big act. The tour won't be stopping in the Triangle, but will head to Charlotte's new Uptown Amphitheater on August 21 as well as the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach on August 20. Michael Franti & Spearhead and Augustana will open both shows as well as many others on the tour.

Tickets for the Charlotte show go on sale June 5 at 10am. Tickets for the House of Blues show are on sale now here.

The band's most recent release is their 2008 album Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings. Check out our review of the album here. Check out all of the upcoming tour dates below.

The Uptown Amphitheater is a new 5,000 capacity amphitheater in downtown Charlotte owned and booked by LiveNation (yeah, we know). Counting Crows show at the venue is on August 21.

Counting Crows dates:
06.26.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest [Tickets]
06.27.09 - Chicago, IL - Grant Park
06.29.09 - Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion [Tickets]
07.01.09 - Muskegon, MI - Muskegon Summer Celebration
07.04.09 - Sioux City, IA - Grandview Park
07.06.09 - Cincinnati, OH - PNC Pavilion @ Riverbend Music Center [Tickets]
07.08.09 - Rochester Hills, MI - Meadow Brook Music Festival [Tickets]
07.09.09 - Sarnia, ON - Rogers Bayfest Rock Weekend
07.11.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Basilica Block Party
07.16.09 - Redmond, WA - Marymoor Amphitheater [Tickets]
07.17.09 - Goldendale, WA - Maryhill Winery [Tickets]
07.19.09 - Friant, CA - Table Mountain Casino
07.21.09 - Los Angels, CA - Greek Theatre [Tickets]
07.24.09 - Henderson, NV - Red Rock Resort, Spa & Casino
07.26.09 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theater [Tickets]
07.29.09 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater [Tickets]
08.01.09 - Houston, TX - The Showgrounds at Sam Houston Racepark
08.03.09 - Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall
08.04.09 - Grand Prairie, TX - Nokia Theatre [Tickets]
08.06.09 - Biloxi, MS - Beau Rivage Theatre [Tickets]
08.07.09 - Orange Beach, AL - The Amphitheater at the Wharf
08.08.09 - Tunica, MS - Harrah's Casino [Tickets]
08.11.09 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium [Tickets]
08.12.09 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheater
08.14.09 - St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheatre [Tickets]
08.15.09 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live [Tickets]
08.17.09 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall [Tickets]
08.18.09 - Miami, FL - Bayfront Amphitheater
08.20.09 - North Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues [Tickets]
08.21.09 - Charlotte, NC - Uptown Amphitheater
08.26.09 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theater
08.28.09 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Casino
08.29.09 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun
08.31.09 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
09.03.09 - New York, NY - Rumsey Playfield @ Central Park Summerstage [Tickets]
09.05.09 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion [Tickets]
09.06.09 - Canandaigua, NY - CMAC [Tickets]

[photo by Danny Clinch]

Counting Crows offer live show downloads

Counting Crows fans can download a bit of concert memorabilia thanks to a new site, livecountingcrows.com, which offers recordings of the group's concerts.

The band's Sept. 29 show from Raleigh's Walnut Creek is currently available in MP3 and FLAC format, along with shows from Charlotte, Jones Beach and Boston. Subsequent concerts will be up a couple days after they happen but are available for pre-order.

At $9.99 for a full concert MP3 download it's not a bad deal. CDs are also available for $21, which seems a little steep unless it came with customized liner notes with photos from the show.

Though it will mostly be hardcore fans to purchase these shows, more bands should do this sort of thing. I'm still meaning to head over to playedlastnight.com and download The Swell Season's show at Meymandi Hall back in May.

Know of any other bands or sites offering this service? Let us know in the comments.

Once Counting Crows finish their U.S. tour in early October, they'll gear up for a round of European dates with our homeboy Ben Folds and The Hold Steady.

Dec. 2 Newcastle Arena (w/Ben Folds & Melee)
Dec. 4 Nottingham Arena (w/Ben Folds & Melee)
Dec. 5 Wembley Arena (w/Ben Folds & Melee)
Dec. 7 Manchester Arena (w/Ben Folds & Melee)
Dec. 8 Cardiff Arena (w/Ben Folds & Melee)
Dec. 10 BIC - Bournemouth
Dec. 11 Brighton Centre (w/Ben Folds & Melee)
Dec. 13 NEC Arena, Birmingham (w/Ben Folds & Melee)
Dec. 14 Sheffield Arena (w/Ben Folds & Melee)
Dec. 16 Brabanthallen - Den Bosch, Holland (w/The Hold Steady & Melee)
Dec. 20 The O2, Dublin (w/The Hold Steady & Melee)
Dec. 21 Odyssey Arena, Belfast (w/The Hold Steady & Melee)

Counting Crows' Saturday Nights best on shuffle

I have to say I'm a little puzzled by Counting Crows' new album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, out today on Geffen Records.

The concept itself is simple enough. Half the album is electric (Saturday Nights) and half acoustic (Sunday Mornings). But it's in the execution where things get a little bumbled.

The album opens with the heart-pumping "1492." The tempo keeps up through the next five tracks, ending with "Cowboys" and its brain-splitting chorus before mellowing out with "Washington Square."

In interviews, Adam Duritz talks about the two halves as if they are two separate albums entirely. And maybe it would have been better off that way. While I appreciate the concept, as a listener I feel it's better to have a little ebb and flow with the pacing of songs versus two chunks of one or the other.

Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings has plenty of songs that I enjoy. "Hanging Tree," "Los Angeles" and "Insignificant" off the "Saturday Nights" half of the album are all well-written pop songs that could easily stand alone, as well as "Washington Square" and "Anyone But You" off "Sunday Mornings." But the album hits a wall near the album's end with "Le Ballet d'Or" and "On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago" which, frankly, bored me.

Of the album and its concept, Duritz said, “We make good albums. I don’t know that we’re a great 'singles' band. Now with the whole world going byte-sized, we felt, and still feel, like it’s more important than ever NOT to cooperate with all of that.”

Maybe they need a second take on this one.

Counting Crows will be at Walnut Creek with Maroon 5 and Sara Bareilles on July 29. Tickets go on sale April 4.