Ed Kowalczyk in Charlotte Professional Concert Photos by Richard Thigpen Amos' Southend

Ed Kowalczyk 09/28/10 Charlotte, NC at Amos’ Southend

Live Concert Review:

Ed Kowalczyk, otherwise known as "the guy from Live", performed at Amos' Southend in Charlotte, NC as part of his Alive 2010 tour. Not exactly a solo tour, he had a full back-up band to help make his performance out of this world. Ed broke away from his former band, "Live", in mid- 2009, for a little break, but for all we know, it seems to be a permanent split. The show lasted a full hour and a half, which consisted of a full 17song setlist.

Ed started the set with "Just in Time", coming off his new album "Alive". The crowd definitely was filled with Ed fans. With his creative songwriting that have a presence of spiritualness, to the sound of his voice, to the explosive energy he exhibits on stage, Ed definitely hasn't lost anything after leaving Live. His voice was spot-on and he put on an amazing show. From singing, to running around on stage, to playing guitar at the mic stand, Ed was able to make a performance out of the show. He intertwined former Live songs into the setlist to accompany his newer tunes. Some hits he performed were All Over You, I Alone, and Dolphins Cry. The songs from his new solo album rocked as well. Some are not as hard-rocking as Live songs, but they definitely hold their ground, lyrically and emotionally. What really sealed the deal for me, was he took the time to rock with each of his new band mates throughout the whole performance. He would stand by them and sing and rock out. Pretty awesome to see since this show is promoted as an Ed Kowalczyk tour and not an "Ed and his new band" tour. I think making the rest of the band feel welcomed is an important part for his performance.

Before the encore performance, Ed talked to the crowd about sponsoring children for the World Vision organization. He held up a place card that had the child's photo on the front. He asked for person's in the crowd to volunteer to be a sponsor. The first person that volunteered got a signed drumhead from the band, a CD, and a T-shirt. Several person's followed and felt led to sponsor a child.

Ed has seemed to reach a point in his life where peace and spirituality have become a real part of his songwriting. Prior to playing "Heaven", he talked about something spiritual that is all around us and he said, "I call it God, what do you call it?". Not only was the whole performance great, you could really tell Ed enjoys performing and doing what he does. He had smiles on his face the whole performance and also made some funny faces to the crowd as they sang his lyrics for him. Ed ended the show with Dance With You. This show ranked high on my charts in all the concerts I've seen thus far in 2010, right up there with the acoustic Open Wings Broken Strings tour I attended in March, featuring.....Eddie Kowalczyk.

Opening bands were The Miggs and Thriving Ivory.

Setlist:

Just In Time

The Great Beyond

The Distance

All Over You

Selling the Drama

Zion

Drive

The Dolphin’s Cry

Soul Whispers

Everlasting Love