Collective Soul • January 20, 2025 • The Union
Reviewed and Photographed by Kevin Rolfe
We’ve had the opportunity to attend Collective Soul in concert multiple times. The takeaway from each concert we’ve been to is authenticity. This is such an authentic band. They genuinely seem to enjoy themselves on stage. Collective Soul seems to really appreciate their audience, and they appear to genuinely care about each other. Those elements make for a great concert experience. This Collective Soul concert at The Union Event Center in Salt Lake City was no exception.
On what felt like the coldest night in Salt Lake City this winter, The Union was warmed up with anticipation as fans filled the large general admission venue. Collective Soul walked on stage to a loud ovation as they opened their set with songs from their latest release, Here to Eternity. “Mother’s Love” and “Bluer Than So Blue” seemed to get the crowd going and into the show. They followed the new songs with the 1999 hit, “Heavy”. The audience was all in at this point.
An obvious highlight was when Collective Soul played their megahit, “Shine”. I thought they sounded great, and the crowd was roaring as they sang along. In the middle of the song frontman, Ed Roland shared a story that early on in their career they were invited to open for the legendary Aerosmith. They commented on how they were mentors, professionals, and badass! He credited them for giving Collective Soul their break and paid tribute to them by singing a snippet of their hit song, “Living on the Edge”. I did not see this tribute coming. It was a really cool surprise.
Following their tribute they concluded, “Shine”. The audience was so loud at times during this song. I know this band has sung the song so many times. And sometimes that can really leave a song lifeless. But Collective Soul has clearly made sure to pump life into their hits so they still land where fans hope they will. I appreciate that a lot.
Following “Shine”, Ed shared with the audience what it was like making their album Here To Eternity. He told us that the band rented Elvis Presley’s Palm Springs home for a month to record the album. He said the guys in the band were so good that they recorded it in just four days. So he sent them away for a few days so he could write some more. And when they came back they recorded the next lot of songs again in rapid fashion. They had so much material that Here To Eternity became a double album. He followed with a couple more songs from the album. I thought “Keep it on Track” and “Not The Same” were very well received by the SLC crowd.
It’s amazing to watch the energy lead singer Ed Roland puts into these concerts. Each member of Collective Soul does an amazing job. They sound great and they play well off of each other. It seems clear to me that the rest of the band is happy to take a more laid back approach to their performance and let Ed handle the crowd work, and overall performance aspect of their shows. And he takes on that role admirably. The guy is all over the stage. He talks to the audience and shares stories of the band and the songs. He’s always engaged and the audience eats it up.
In what was the highlight of the show for me, and one of those special moments in the live music experience, was when Ed took a note from the crowd that read, “This is my first concert back since I survived cancer. (the audience erupted after hearing that) Six months in remission. Your music helped to pull me through. Thank you. Music heals.” Ed Roland was clearly moved by the moment. They followed by playing the song requested by the cancer survivor, “Precious Declaration”. The band acknowledged the man and celebrated the moment with him. It was a great moment to witness.
Another fun surprise was hearing Collective Soul perform a cover of AD/DC’s classic, “Dirty Deeds”. That got the crowd going even more and the band seemed to love playing it. I’m sure it will come as no shock that “Run” and “The World I Know” went over massively well with the audience. They’re good songs. But they’re great songs live. They were fun to hear.
The night went fast. Collective Soul wasn’t able to play all the songs on their setlist due to curfew. I was disappointed to see “Run” on the setlist as the closer. I think it’s a great closing song for the band and it always puts a cap on their concerts. That darned curfew! Fortunately, we were informed that Collective Soul will be touring this summer with another late 90s favorite, LIVE. That’s going to be a great combo! Here’s hoping they return to Utah. For the time being, it was great to be treated to another excellent night of live music.
