Hootie and the Blowfish made their way to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY on June 15th bringing along Collective Soul with Edwin McCain providing direct support.
Collective Soul gave a powerful career spanning performance controlling the crowd in the right ways. While Hootie and the Blowfish did in fact give a solid performance, they were only able to do so by filling their “headlining set” with 40 percent of cover songs. Yes, of course they did play all their hits, like all 5 of them sprinkled in between songs that were not theirs. Yes, of course it is a normal thing for a band to cover a song or two. But 9 covers?
Does a band who cannot play majority of their own originals(with the exception bands labeled cover acts) deserve to headline a venue like SPAC? The only advice could lend to the band is to write more material or extend their songs with sing along opportunities for the fans.
Collective Soul may not be SPAC headlining worthy, they had no problem giving the fans an incredible show. Not only did they look like they wanted to be there, they sounded seasoned and gave each song its own experience. Did they play a cover? Yes one cover song. A rocking version of of AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.”
While the enthusiasm was there from the rest of the band, Dairus Rucker seemed very stiff on stage and didn’t have that frontman presence that is crucial for the fan experience.
Was it packed? Yes. Was is a good time? For sure. But it isn’t a good trend for live musical performances in my opinion. When you have to make your money off of performing other people’s music for nearly half your set, it becomes kind of a slap in the face to original artists(unless you are claiming to be a cover artist). That being said, it was a great selection of covers from Hootie and the Blowfish. Check out the setlist for yourself below.
Hootie and the Blowfish Setlist:
I Go Blind(54-40 cover), Wishing, I Will Wait, Time, Running From an Angel, For What It’s Worth(Buffalo Springfield cover), Hannah Jane, Not Even The Trees, Will the Circle Be Unbroken?(William MacEwan cover), Desert Mountain Showdown, I Hope I Don’t Fall in Love With You(Tom Waits cover), Wagon Wheel(Old Crow Medicine Show cover), Miss California; Hey, Hey What Can I Do(Led Zeppelin cover), Solitude(Edwin McCain cover), Old Man and Me, Losing My Religion(R.E.M. cover), Let Her Cry, Alright, Hold My Hand
Encore: Go and Tell Him, Interstate Love Song(Stone Temple Pilots cover) Only Wanna Be With You