Counting Crows, Augustana, and NOTAR - Wellmont Theater - Montclair, NJ - August 17, 2010

The renovated Wellmont Theater, a Bowery Presents venue, opened in October 2008, when Counting Crows was scheduled for a two-night run. Mama and her friend drove about four and a half hours in the rain, only to find out as they pulled up to the venue that the show had been canceled because Adam Duritz had the flu. While Mama was extremely disappointed, you shouldn’t feel too bad for her because she and her friend rolled with the punches, scooted over to the Meadowlands and saw Coldplay instead (Carter is the Coldplay fan in the family and didn’t speak to her for two days, but he got over it when she took him to see them for his ninth birthday).

As such, this was the first time either of us had been to the venue. Mama had plans to meet up with and interview the winner of Tri State Indie’s ticket giveaway before the show (read the story and see Brandywine Photography's great photos). We spent the afternoon road-tripping to get there with two of our nearest and dearest, and arrived early enough to meet two other friends for dinner before the show.

Carter: The Wellmont felt like a really big Capitol Theater, without seats.

Mama: I’d agree with that description. It was a pretty cool place. The Capitol, in some ways, is a little better preserved.

Carter: There were nets on the ceiling to catch debris, which made me scared.

Mama: The nets were so you didn’t have to be scared. If anything would have fallen, the net would have caught it.

Carter: The show was awesome.

Mama: It was really good. Counting Crows played “Anna Begins," which I’ve only heard live a few times, and guitarist Dan Vickrey sang lead on a song – something I don't ever remember seeing. I really liked Augustana’s newest songs, like “Steal Your Heart Away,” during which all the members of Counting Crows joined them onstage. It was also fun to see NOTAR perform so close to home. He had some friends and family that came out to show him some love, and it seemed like he was having an especially good time.

Carter: I wore my Toy Soldiers T-shirt and I got about 15 stains on it at dinner, so I got a NOTAR shirt and put it on over my dirty one.

Mama: So you were totally THAT GUY.

Carter: No, I wasn’t! I think that rule doesn’t count if you have the dirtiest shirt ever.

Mama: I think it was all a big trick to get me to buy you a NOTAR T-shirt.

Carter: You would have bought me one anyway.

Mama: Yeah…that’s probably true.

Adam Duritz, NOTAR, and Jason Gallagher

Carter: After the show, Mama went to talk to the lady who won the tickets, and I was in the parking lot with our friends. The backstage area was right by the parking lot and a crew member gave me a setlist. So I ran out front and found NOTAR and his bandmates. He was getting a picture taken with someone else and when he saw me, he remembered me from the Musikfest show and said, “Hey bud, where’s your mom? Have you been practicing your trumpet?” I got everybody to sign my setlist and we framed it.

Carter with Jason Gallagher from the band Leroy Justice. He's been touring with NOTAR.

Mama: When I was walking out of the show, the two kids walking behind me were talking about how much they liked NOTAR. I’m really excited to see what happens after his album comes out (EP drops September 14!).

Carter: I love NOTAR’s song “Matador,” and in the car ride home, I was singing “minotaur” instead.

Mama: We were a little delirious on the way home. Next time we go to a show that far away, we really need to make plans to stay overnight. It was so late when we got back home.

Carter: It was totally worth it.

Mama: It was another great adventure in live music.

Check back soon for our reviews of these live shows: Hot August Blues in Cockeysville, MD, featuring Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Keb Mo, and Lyle Lovett & His Large Band, Lee Harvey Osmond at Ourhouse in York, Carolina Chocolate Drops at the Capitol Theatre, Rhett Miller at the Capitol Theatre, and Spoon at The Forum in Harrisburg, PA.

Counting Crows, Augustana, and NOTAR - Musikfest - Bethlehem, PA - August 6, 2010

We had never been to Musikfest (*GASP!*). Even though Mama went to nearby Kutztown University and we have family in Bethlehem – Carter’s cousin actually plays Musikfest every year – we had never gone before. There is no excuse. We’ll be going every year from here on out.

Musikfest is a 10-day festival featuring more than 300 performances representing pretty much any musical genre you can imagine. It takes place each year in downtown Bethlehem, PA, on 14 platzes (stages), 11 of which are free. The festival began in 1984, with 182,000 attendees; it now draws over 1 million people.

Anyway, we were planning to see Counting Crows on Musikfest’s opening night on their main stage. A few weeks before, Mama landed a sweet freelance project and had the opportunity to write about NOTAR, the rapper who is on Adam Duritz’s record label and touring with Counting Crows. Over the weeks leading up to the show, the project expanded a bit and the article covered NOTAR, the overall concept of the Traveling Circus & Medicine Show, and the Greybird Foundation, Counting Crows’ charitable outreach arm.

As it turned out, Mama interviewed NOTAR via phone the day before the show. He was very gracious with his time, and Mama was even more excited to write her story after speaking with him – he’s very quotable, but also comes across as very genuine.

On the day of the show, Carter and Mama left early in the afternoon to begin what’s usually a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Bethlehem. When we stopped to get Carter a slushey and some beef jerky (his favorite road trip snacks), Mama checked her email and found out Adam Duritz had agreed to speak with her, but that he only had five minutes. He’d be calling her directly at 4 p.m.

At a few minutes before 4, Mama pulled off the highway, opened her laptop, and the phone rang. When she looked at the clock 45 minutes later, she apologized to Mr. Duritz and explained that if she didn’t get back on the road, they were going to miss the show.

Mama: We got back on the road and Carter had already finished the slushey, the entire bag of beef jerky and half his book. We immediately hit rush hour traffic near Harrisburg, and pretty much everywhere else between there and the Lehigh Valley. Our tickets said the gates opened at 6 and the show started at 7, and I was really worried we were going to miss the first half.

Carter: That beef jerky was good.

Mama: I can’t believe you ate the whole bag while I was on the phone.

Carter: Well maybe you shouldn’t talk so much to famous artists.

Mama: That interview was really a dream come true for me. I’m a pretty big Counting Crows fan. [understatement of the century]

Carter: Yeeeaaah…trust me, I know. We were going to Mama’s friend’s house in Bethlehem to catch the shuttle bus with them.

Mama: There’s a shuttle system to get people to the festival. We got off the shuttle bus around 7:15 and still had to walk all the way through the festival to the main stage at the other end. I was really upset about missing so much of the show. Rather than having an opening act, then the second band, then the headliner, the Traveling Circus & Medicine Show features all three bands playing all evening. When the curtain goes up, everyone is onstage playing Van Morrison’s "Caravan," and from that point on, everyone comes and goes, playing their own songs, sitting in on each other’s songs, and doing covers. I had seen the show several times last summer, and once already this summer, and I knew we should be there from the very beginning, but the phone interview and traffic had made us late.

Carter: I had to pee, and I wanted food tickets [food and beverages at the festival are purchased with tickets rather than cash], but Mama just rushed ahead to get to the stage.

Mama: As we got closer to the stage, I said, “I don’t hear any music.” We arrived to find out that there was a misprint on the tickets, and that the start time wasn’t until 8 p.m. So we hadn’t missed anything!

Carter: I got pierogies and they were even better than the beef jerky!

Mama: I skipped dinner, but after another chain of misadventures and serendipitous timing, I ended up in the pit in front of the stage. The website for which I was writing the story didn’t have any photographers available, so they asked me to take my point-and-shoot camera and try to get a few shots to accompany my story.

Left to right: Jason Gallagher (from NOTAR), Counting Crows front man Adam Duritz, and Augustana front man Dan Layus.

Mama: I ended up meeting a very nice photographer in the pit who graciously offered to send me a photo that Tri State Indie could use as long as they gave her photo credits.

Carter: I personally think the show was amazing. I loved it every time I saw NOTAR come out. I like the song "Matador."

Mama: Me too! I also like watching the people around us as he wins them over. I think many of them don’t think they’re going to enjoy a rapper’s performance, but he’s so engaging, and his band is so talented, that people just can’t help but love it.

Carter: When Augustana sang my favorite song, "Sweet and Low," NOTAR came out with his trumpet. I play the trumpet, too.

Mama: NOTAR told me on the phone that he plays for at least an hour a day. I was really excited when he came out onto the stage with it. To me, it just underscored what reverent musicians everyone on that tour is to see the rapper come out and play his horn like that.

Carter: It was kick-butt. At the end, they sang "This Land is Your Land."

Mama: I always love that part, because everyone sings along, and everyone leaves with a big smile on their face.

Carter: As we were leaving, we saw NOTAR, MGeezy, and some other guys from NOTAR’s band standing outside. Mama said, “Hi, I'm JJ,” and shook his hand. He said, “Nice to meet you, JJ.” Then Mama said, “We spoke on the phone yesterday.” NOTAR was like, “Oh, my God, JJ!!” and hugged her. Then he said, “Where’s your son?” and then he saw me and grabbed my head and said, “You have to practice your trumpet for an hour every day!”

Mama: He was serious, too. That’s good advice and I hope you listen to him.

Carter: I have!

Carter and NOTAR.

Mama: It was really great to meet him. The whole day, everything just fell into place so perfectly. I was so happy. I couldn’t wait to get home and write the story. [You can read Mama's story over at Tri State Indie...it also ended up on the home page at countingcrows.com for several weeks.]

Carter: I slept the whole way home except for a stop at Wawa.

Mama: I was wide awake and couldn’t stop smiling.

Carter: I’m tired just thinking about it. But it was a great show.

Check back soon for our reviews of these live shows: Deer Tick and Mountain Man at the Capitol Theatre, The Traveling Circus & Medicine Show at the Wellmont Theater, Hot August Blues in Cockeysville, MD, featuring Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Keb Mo, and Lyle Lovett & His Large Band, and Lee Harvey Osmond at Ourhouse in York, PA.