COLLECTIVE SOUL
SPRINGFEST 2023
Friday, May 5th
Ocean City, Md.

    On a chilly early May evening as thousands of people were strolling through our 32nd Springfest at the Inlet, Collective Soul rolled into town for a stop on their summer tour in support of their latest album, Vibrating, released on August 12, 2022.  At 7pm the house lights went out and the band hit the stage with lead vocalist and guitarist Ed Roland front and center sporting all white slacks and a blue sequined shirt. The band opened the show with "Cut the Cord" and "Heavy", with the sell-out crowd already on their feet and we were off and running. After the next song "Right as Rain", Roland said, "Well, here we are Maryland. What a beautiful place you have here and a lot of beautiful people as well and not a bad view at all looking out at the ocean as a backdrop.” He then addressed the crowd by saying, "we just woke up."  We all had a good laugh; then Roland looked down and pointed at me saying,  “It's true, we really did just wake up.” He came to the front of the stage and asked me my name,  I showed him my credentials and he looked at my photo pass (which was from the Springfest and not the band) and said, “Your name is staff?  What the hell were your parents thinking when they named you?”  I did tell him ‘Gary’ but I got nowhere with that.  Anyway, back to the show.

    Next up was "Shine" and then "Precious Declaration." To that he now grabbed a woman in the front row and, leaning over with his mic, let her sing a few lines with him.  At the end of the song he said, " I like you people a lot; you have a lot of energy."  During "Better Man", Roland walked off the stage and the band played a nice jam, after which Roland returned to the stage to introduce the band.  He said, “To my right, lead guitarist Jesse Triplett, behind me on the skins, drummer Johnny Rabb, and behind me on the left, bassist Will Turpin.”  He then walked over to his far left and said, “This is my younger brother and rhythm guitarist Dean Roland,” as they embraced with a hug and rustled each others hair. Now Roland's guitar tech brought out an acoustic guitar that they were apparently having a little trouble with, and had to  switch to another one.  Roland said, “We just started touring again a couple weeks ago and still working out some kinks.  This next song, “Compliment,” he continued, “is one we've never played live before so I hope you enjoy it.  At the end of the song he said, “This is another one that hasn't been played in a while and I hope you enjoy it as well.”  The song was "She Said", which is from the 1997 slasher film "Scream 2."  A slightly different version of the song was later featured as a hidden track on the band's fourth studio album Dosage; pretty cool, check it out.

    As the audience was all singing along to "The World I Know," all band members walked to the front of the stage for quite the photo-opp for the crowd holding up their cell phones. Once again Roland said,  "I really love you guys; keep up the energy that feeds us.”  He then asked the crowd,  "Does anybody know how to play the guitar?”  He sees a guy in the audience and invites him on stage.  He says, “All you have to do for this next song is play a simple four-chord verse” ... that song being "December."  This young kid is on stage playing guitar with Collective Soul, something I’m sure he never thought would happen.  At the end, Roland told us that 18-year-old Joey is from Delaware.  Joey got hugs from all band members before leaving the stage while giving a peace sign to the crowd.
    After that exciting performance, Roland told us that each of the band’s members, all from Georgia, grew up in musical households and that there was one band they all admired the most.  "God Bless R.E.M.”, Roland said as they band played "The One I Love."  Sitting at the front of the stage, Roland found another woman to sing a few lines with him.  "Did you have fun tonight?" Roland asked, to be rewarded by the crowd's thunderous applause and screams of “Yes,!”  The band then played "Gel" and "Where the River Flows." To end the show, Roland played "Run" on acoustic guitar as Johnny Rabb joined the rest of the band at the front of the stage with a tambourine and Will Turpin served as an impromptu conductor.  The band exited the stage one by one, Roland being the only one left still playing the guitar, slowly walking off as the house lights came up after a fantastic concert by a truly great rock and roll band.  For more dates on their tour, go to www.collectivesoul.com

Concert Photojournalist
Gary Crouthamel