Live Review: Counting Crows, Jackson McLaren

A cool looking Jackson McLaren took to the stage at the Opera House's Concert Hall with backing band The Triple Threat, seeming a little in awe of the magnitude of the venue. His nerves quickly moved aside as his country-folk sounds filled the hall with tracks All There Is To Wonder, House on Fire and new number Here's A Memory.

The crowd, filled with middle-aged fans, packed the hall by the time the Counting Crows arrived to wild screams of delight for their first ever gig at the Opera House. The seven-piece outfit, although all getting a little older, still had the prowess of a young rock band and were clearly thrilled to be playing in such an iconic venue.

Opener Round Here went down a storm, with the more excitable fans immediately out of their seats, singing along to every word. Singer Adam Duritz rocking black jeans, a T-shirt and his trademark shock of dreadlocks nonchalantly roamed the stage, looking very comfortable and acting out the lyrics as if in a play. More classics followed including Mrs Potter's Lullaby, a beautiful rendition of Colorblind and the accordion-laden Omaha.

Rain King got everyone dancing as it built and dropped in an epic extended version that was a sure highlight of the show. A couple of tracks from their latest album Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation) including Hospital and Like Teenage Gravity were well received, with Duritz leaving the stage after the latter before returning for a solid solo piano performance of Goodnight LA.

Crowd pleaser, Hanginaround, finished the huge two hour set before a quick exit and return for the encore. An interesting version of Anna Begins welcomed them back to the stage before finishing off with Hard Candy and Holiday In Spain. But the song everyone was hanging out for, Mr Jones, was nowhere to be seen. Maybe they ran out of time as Duritz seemed reluctant to leave the stage, but it unfortunately left a little dampener on an otherwise outstanding performance.