Just returned from the Counting Crows/ John Mayer concert in Kansas City. Musically speaking, it was a pretty solid show.

The Crows played a set balanced between songs off their latest album, Hard Candy, and their older hit material. "Mr. Jones," expectedly, received the best audience reaction of the night, although a mid-set performance of "Big Yellow Taxi" and a finale of "Hangin' Around" were also warmly received. An encore of "A Long December" was interrupted when a couple of insects flew into lead singer Adam Duritz's mouth mid-phrase, but after evicting the unwanted occupants the band finished the song strongly.

Mayer, as expected, performed material primarily off his debut album, although he mixed in a couple of songs off the new album that, he informed the audience, he just wrapped. His guitar work was more impressive than I expected, and he also displayed an energy and a live singing ability that I hadn't expected from seeing a couple of his TV appearances.

Both the Crows and Mayer were fairly businesslike about their sets, not bothering with too much crowd repartee or interaction, although Duritz did take about 5-7 minutes for a rambling soliloquy that led into a song introduction.

The bands were preceded by Graham Coltrane, whose songs, despite a glowing review from Duritz, were largely and properly ignored by the audience. Coltrane's songs were not remarkable enough to rise above the burden of unfamiliarity for anyone past the first few rows.

Bobby's review of Hard Candy.

Bobby Allison-Gallimore was forced to take piano lessons for 12 years by his mother. He can't thank her enough, now. You can read about his extra-musical experiences at tonight's Crows/Mayer concert at his weblog, The Rattler.