Counting Crows • The Gaslight Anthem • August 21, 2025 • Utah First Amphitheatre
Reviewed and Photographed by Amelia Weyerstall
Counting Crows and the Gaslight Anthem played an exciting show at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre. Getting fans up out of their seats, dancing and singing along to their favorite songs. The Counting Crows’ The Complete Sweets! Tour was one to remember.
The Gaslight Anthem
Before The Gaslight Anthem came out onto stage, a few sweet words were said about them by Counting Crows, “I have a good day every day on this tour. You want to know why? We brought New Jersey with us; you don’t even know what’s coming at you. Ladies and Gentlemen, all the way from New Jersey, the great, the powerful, The Gaslight Anthem.” This was met by applause from the audience, who gave a warm welcome to the opening act for the night.
The Gaslight Anthem started their set off by playing “Have Mercy”, “Positive Charge”, and the incredibly catchy “The Weatherman” before saying, “This next song we wrote a long time ago in 2008, when most of you were probably alive, haha, so was I. This was the first record that we made that anybody paid attention to. And you can probably tell by looking at us that we started our lives as a little baby punk rock band, and then we grew and grew and grew and you know whatever and all these things… I think that when we were a young baby band, we loved this band Counting Crows so much, or I did, at least. And I was like, you know what?
“I come from the East Coast and New York hip hop. They were always saying that the bands they loved, they would mention them in their songs. So I was gonna do that too, but I’m not going to mention some punk band, I’m gonna mention a band I really loved, and that’s Counting Crows…Thank you so much for taking us on one of the best tours we’ve ever been on in our lives. Counting Crows, you guys are the most stand-up people we’ve ever met. I love every single one of you guys,” before playing the song “High Lonesome”. The crowd loved this little anecdote about the song, and it really helped build a connection between both of the bands and the audience.
The Gaslight Anthem definitely had people up and out of their seats dancing and bobbing their heads along during their set. The crowd loved the covers of “Chloe Dancer” by Mother Love Bone, “Honey Bee” by Tom Petty, and “Lovesong” by The Cure, but not as much as they loved the originals from the band.
Counting Crows
Counting Crows are no stranger to playing shows in Utah; in their 30+ years as a band, they have played in Utah over 10 times! In regard to being back in the state, lead singer Adam Duritz said,“ I was really happy to get here. One of my best friends grew up here and moved back here after she lived in LA, and I am always so happy to come to the town that brought her around. Another one of my friends flew up from the Bay Area, so I have two of my favorite people here tonight, and it’s really nice.” This was a super sweet moment from Duritz, and the support from his friends and the crowd could definitely be felt throughout the night.
Duritz then continues to say how he was unfortunately unable to make it to the famous “Red Iguana” restaurant in SLC because he had to be quiet and under the radar before shows. Duritz continued to talk about how he had to choose the Blue Iguana instead because of their delivery service, but he had a feeling that his bandmate, Immy, was at Red Iguana without him. He then said how, “Everybody but me got to go there” and later “I’m just sharing a little bit of my inner pain that I don’t write songs about.
“You think I’m only walking around being sad about girls here and there, I’m sad about Coloradito, I’m sad about Mole, but I have to admit I’m pretty happy about the enchiladas last night. You know what they say, if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with. So I love my enchiladas.” This whole monologue about Salt Lake Mexican food had the crowd laughing about the food they all know and love. It was very relatable and was a moment that could only be shared between the band and the Utah crowd.
It was clear that the crowd connected with the deep and meaningful way that Duritz sang the lyrics of each of the songs throughout the night. People in the crowd were singing their hearts out to “Omaha”, “Miami”, and the popular “Mr. Jones” and swaying along to “When I Dream of Michelangelo”, “A Long December”, and “Colorblind”. All of the members of the band were incredibly talented, and many of them were multi-instrumental artists, adding another level of depth to the songs.
Throughout the night, there were short periods of rain drizzling down on the crowd, but with the warm stage lights and beautiful songs, it felt very refreshing from the Utah heat. It was especially fun to have a bit of rain during the song “Rain King”. During their cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil,” Duritz put extra emphasis on the Utah lyric, making the crowd cheer wildly for their home state. Counting Crows also played a cover of Taylor Swift’s “The 1,” which really appealed to the younger crowd.
At the end of the night, when all of the songs were over, Duritz spent some time on the stage mouthing lyrics to the post-show songs and really taking in the moment of playing to the large audience in front of him. It was very sweet to see the appreciation he had for the audience still coming out to see them play after all these years of touring as a band.