Concert Review: Collective Soul with Better than Ezra

If you found yourself in the Eagles Ballroom at The Rave November 10, 2005, you might have thought you walked through a time portal back into 1995. You also would have found a very small but passionate crowd of fans cheering on the hits from Collective Soul and Better than Ezra.

Whether or not it was a good or bad episode of "I Love the '90s" probably depends on your affinity for the aforementioned bands.

Collective Soul is well known for a string of hits it had during the Clinton years, including
"December," "Shine" and "The World I Know." Those songs sounded just as good they did a decade ago, but that may be part of the problem.

There's just no excitement in hearing them live any more. Although partially the fault of rock radio stations, Collective Soul's hits are starting to feel tired.

What does the band have as far as new material? Not much. When lead singer Ed Roland announced a tune as "the latest single from our album," it was greeted by applause better suited for a golf tournament than a rock concert.

Judging from the look of the crowd, which was highlighted far too often by the excessive use of flood lights, it was made up of mostly 30-somethings who were aging about as well as Collective Soul's music.

Those who were left over after Better than Ezra departed were pretty melancholy considering they were watching a pretty hard-rocking band.
Naturally, there were a couple of positives to Collective Soul's set. Roland showed some charisma, dancing with his microphone stand and flinging his long oh-so-golden locks back and forth.

He even donned a Wisconsin sweatshirt for the length of one song, much to the delight of the crowd. And the riffs from "Why Pt. 2" and "Heavy" were still as, well, heavy, as they have ever been.

Better than Ezra's show might have been good, but the world will never know. They were the helpless victims of the horrendous acoustics of the expansive Eagles Ballroom. Lead singer Kevin Griffin commented several times on the conditions, saying that this might be the most "echoey" room he had ever played in. It was nearly impossible to make out the words Griffin was singing when they were all playing their instruments.
What was distinguishable were the familiar chords of "Good" and "Desperately Wanting" the songs that made Better than Ezra famous.

Additionally, "A Lifetime," a great tune that marks Ezra's impassioned attempt to become relevant again, was delivered with plenty of gusto and emotion.

Grade: CD