Hootie & the Blowfish @ Zoo
Posted on July 27th, 2008 – 11:28 PMBy Jon Bream
Despite the blockbuster “Cracked Rear View,” Hootie was always a better live band than studio entity. A dozen years after their heyday, they proved their live prowess Sunday night at the soldout Minnesota Zoo with a highly entertaining, crowd-pleasing performance.
What’s one sure sign that it’s a good live band? When the covers go over better than the band’s own hits. Lead singer Darius Rucker poured his passion into R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” and Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova” and he shook his groove thang on Kool & the Gang’s “Get Down on It.”
One thing that was clear about Rucker — he’s going country. Not only did he sing his new country single (No. 14 and rising, with a plug for his solo country CD due in Sept.) but he was wearing a straw cowboy hat, cowboy boots and a starched white shirt that accented how trim and buff he has become. Plus the Blowfish added a bit of a twang to their always Southern-sounding music. The band was tight and spirited, with vocal harmonies as impressive as Rucker’s captivating lead vocals.
Here is the set list:
1. Go and Tell Him (Soup Song) 2. Time 3. Ford Econoline 4. Hannah Jane 5. Space 6. Ride Along 7. What Do You Want 8. Hey Hey What Can I Do (Led Zeppelin) 9. Desert Mountain Showdown 10. Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It (Darius’ country single) 11. Running from an Angel 12. Hey Sister Pretty 13. Let Her Cry 14. I Go Blind 15. State Your Peace 16. Losing My Religion (REM, featuring Peter Holsapple who played on the original recording) 17. Get Out of My Mind 18. Old Man & Me 19. Wishing 20. Hold My Hand ENCORE I 21. Be the One 22. Fork in the Road (a Soni song for a movie soundtrack) 23. Champagne Supernova (Oasis) ENCORE II 24. Fine Line 25. Only Wanna Be with You/Get Down on It (Kool & the Gang)
What did you think of the concert? Please post your comments here:
One response to "Hootie & the Blowfish @ Zoo"
I went to the Hootie show on Jul 27th and had a great time. I was hoping to get the digital recording a few days later, but seems as though this show is not going to be made available for some unknown reason? Hootie mentions this is sometimes the case with the (*) note in their email. Here is what a recent Hootie fan email says…
From: Hootie and The Blowfish
Subject: New Shows Available for Download
To: Troy
Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2008, 6:54 PM
Hootie & the Blowfish Fans,
We’ve been touring for over a month, and we want to thank all of our fans for your continued support. If you made it to one or more of our shows, you probably know that you can now download many of our live shows*, thanks to trueAnthem’s technology.
Check out our shows that are now available for download - you can download one or all of the shows.
http://www.trueAnthem.com/hootie
*Due to some unforeseen venue restrictions, not all shows on the tour will be available. We are working as hard as we can to make as many of our live shows available to you for download.
Hoping for some answers, I emailed the Zoo concert promoter, Sue McLean & Associates (SMA), and they make it sound like Hootie decided this. I beg to differ, and so it seems like nobody wants to provide any answers. I also emailed trueAnthem, but have not received a response yet. Anyone care to elaborate on what might be going? Here is my recent email exchange with SMA.
From: SMA Intern
Subject: RE: New Hootie Shows Available for Download
To: Troy
Date: Friday, August 8, 2008, 11:13 AM
Hey Troy,
It’s the artists choice to allow audio recording. Hootie was one of the artists that didn’t allow it.
Sue McLean & Associates
761 Washington Ave. N.
Minneapolis, MN 55401
From: Troy
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 10:08 AM
To: SMA Info
Subject: Fw: New Hootie Shows Available for Download
Dear SMA,
Is the MN Zoo a venue that will not allow audio recording? If so, do you know the reason why?
I was expecting to purchase the download of this great Hootie concert I attended on 7/27, and it seems to not be available, with no further explanation.
Please advise, thanks.
Troy
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