Hootie, Collective Soul, and Edwin McCain

It's been a while since I wrote about attending a concert, but you're in store for a special post filled with witty observations and poor concert videos! Over the weekend (as you can tell by the title), I saw Hootie and the Blowfish, Collective Soul, and Edwin McCain perform at Jiffy Lube Live. I saw Hootie perform at the same venue five years ago and Collective Soul at the 9:30 Club in DC nearly 15 years ago. This was my first Edwin McCain experience, and I'll write more about that later.

Let's start with the headliner. Actually, I want to start with the blue, polo shirt club. 

Or maybe the Butt Life guy. 

No, let's go with the artists.

In 1995, Hootie and the Blowfish were the biggest musical act in the country. Cracked Rear View (released in 1994, so the band is celebrating its 30th anniversary with this tour) was massive and finished as the highest selling album of the year. If you’re of a certain age (like 45-55 give or take a few years on either end like me and much of the audience), many songs from the album are instantly recognizable and received the biggest reaction during the show. I wrote this after the 2019 show and it still holds true today: Darius Rucker has an amazing voice. Alright. Enough of me writing. Let’s go to a video. I really enjoyed Hootie performing covers during the show including of Led Zeppelin's Hey, Hey What Can I Do, Stone Temple Pilots' Interstate Love Song, Kool & the Gang's Get Down On It, and Losing My Religion by R.E.M. Please note that I don’t record full videos of songs. I never want to be the guy who is watching and experiencing a concert through my cell phone.*

Personal highlight of the night. Guitarist Mark Bryan, who is originally from Silver Spring, Maryland doing a brief "Hail to the Redskins" song and getting booed. Even with a brand new owner and QB, the team still isn't that popular right now. Or there were plenty of Steelers and Dolphins (since the Dolphins make Darius cry) fans in the audience.

2024 is also the 30th anniversary of the first studio album of Lective Oul, I mean Collective Soul. Such an underrated band. I was going through their catalog after the show and realized there were several songs (such as Gel, Better Now, and Why, Pt. 2) that were major hits on various rock, adult, and alternative charts that the band didn't play on Saturday night. I guess that's what happens when you're the opening act and have lots of songs. In honor of Aerosmith's retirement, the band incorporated Livin' On The Edge in the middle of Shine. In both this and the cover of AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, they enlisted the assistance of Edwin McCain. 

Second personal highlight. Collective Soul lead singer Ed Roland concluded their set by talking about unity and love and had audience members hold hands with their neighbors and raise their hands in the air. Several minutes later, a fight nearly broke out in my section. I don't know what happened, but the wife/girlfriend/mistress/friend of one of the guys involved got him out of there. (They never returned.) A fight at a Hootie / Collective Soul / Edwin McCain show? Really?

Finally, I need to write about Win McCain, I mean Edwin McCain. McCain and Rucker/Hootie and the Blowfish go way back. Apparently, Hootie wouldn't sign a record deal without the record company also signing McCain. My joke before the show was that we might hear McCain play "I'll Be" 2-3 times. I forgot that he also sings I Could Not Ask For More. That's my entire knowledge of McCain's catalog. He performed a few other songs too that I didn't recognize, and I don't have any plans on downloading them. Still, McCain was the winner of the night. As I mentioned above, he joined Collective Soul twice during their set, and he also performed with Rucker during Hootie's set. McCain really seems like a down-to-earth guy who has been able to make a nice career out of music (he referenced hearing his song being played at Home Depot and telling his kids that this was paying for community college) and gets to tour and hang out with his friends. He could not ask for more.

 

* With that written, if I can make millions on YouTube by posting concert videos, I will definitely become that guy who watches and experiences concerts through my cell phone.