Counting Crows concert gets Packard team off to solid start

Counting Crows

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The new album from Counting Crows, “Somewhere Under Wonderland,” is one of my favorites of the year (another is “Hymns from Some Small Town” by Third Class; story on page C10 and on vindy.com).

So I was pleased that the band played seven of its nine cuts at Saturday’s concert at Packard Music Hall in Warren. Maybe on a future tour the band will perform the album in its entirety and in the same order.

The songs on “Wonderland” flow and connect like a concept album, and the accompanying videos paint a picture and bring the characters to life. In a Billboard interview before the album’s September release, frontman Adam Duritz said “Wonderland” is a bit more “out there” than previous Crows fare. He’s right, but it’s also a lean package, with no filler.

The band started its encore with “Palisades Park,” the album’s epic eight-minute opener. It’s a suite that is part theme-park ride and part reminiscence.

Saturday’s concert was the first rock show in recent (or distant) memory at Packard, and the venue adapted well to the crowd (although the dude who kept yelling “Play ‘Mr. Jones’” might have been disappointed). JAC Management, the company that operates Youngstown’s Covelli Centre, took over at Packard in September, and the Crows were the first rock show it promoted there.

The concert was sold out, which meant just shy of 1,900 folks, and the influx of people from outside the area was obvious in Warren restaurants, bars and even hotels.

Packard is a multi-purpose auditorium, not a traditional theater. Most of the upper bowl seats face the floor, not the stage. But its capacity is similar to House of Blues or Stage AE, and its acoustics for rock proved decent.

The portable risers that put the last 25 or so rows of floor seats on an incline were not used for the Crows show. That was necessary because the band’s sound mixing board was at the rear of the floor, explained Jim Bugos, general manager of Packard. It also created space for a few dozen more seats, although the sightlines back there were poor, especially with the crowd on its feet for the whole show.

Bugos breathed a sigh of relief after the concert, which went off without a hitch. Crowd flow and parking were smooth, no small feat for having so many out-of-towners.

One lesson learned concerned the location of the smoking area. Smokers gathered outside the main entrance Saturday, creating a logjam there. The smoking zone will be moved to the south doors for future shows, said Bugos.

I’ve been in Packard many times, but until Saturday’s concert I had never even noticed the two concession stand windows at the rear of the floor area. That’s because they almost never get used. The windows allowed folks with floor seats to grab a beer or beverage without having to go out in the lobby. Quite convenient.

Bugos said many artists insist that the windows be closed and covered during a performance, because their lights are distracting, but Counting Crows didn’t mind.

SOUTHERN TIER BREWERY TAKING OVER FOR A NIGHT

Southern Tier Brewing Co. of Lakewood, N.Y., near Jamestown, will mount a tap takeover tonight at Rust Belt Brewing’s Tap House, starting at 6. But it won’t be a hostile takeover.

Representatives from Southern Tier will be on hand with some new brews, including Krampus, a seasonal ale, and I-90 Scotch Ale, which will be the first time it will be in Ohio.

Southern Tier is best known for its IPAs and its Pumking, both of which are on tap at a lot of Youngstown-area bars.

Rust Belt Brewing Tap House is at 112 W. Commerce St., downtown. On Friday evening, singer-songwriter Kenny Greco will perform at the spot.

By the way, Rust Belt is in the process of putting in a kitchen in order to expand its menu.