+Live+, Collective Soul, Our Lady Peace and Greylin James Rue @ Darien Lake, Darien NY 7-26-25

The 90’s and early 2000’s came alive last Saturday Night as +Live+, Collective Soul and Our Lady Peace along with newcomer Greylin James Rue came to Darien Lake on the Summer Unity Tour. It was night of night of classic tunes and new tracks as well. It’s been a while since I seen all of these bands (and have never seen the newcomer Rue) so it was going to be an interesting night of music for me.

First up was Greylin James Rue. Known as an actress, Rue is flashed her indie music vibes for a short 20-minute set. A few song titles that were played “It Gets Bad” and “Birth of Venus.” I thought for an artist who doesn’t have a full album of material out, definitely made her mark in the short time she had.

Next up was Our Lady Peace. The band always had a strong following in the Western New York area and for this show it was no different. The quartet has remained consistent since 2002 with Raine Maida on vocals and guitar, Duncan Coutts on bass and Steve Mazur on lead guitar. Jason Pierce has been drumming for the band since 2016. The short 7 song set was super energetic as the fans were very into it. “Superman” and “Clumsy’ were played but probably the most well-known song in the bands catalog “Somewhere Out there” was surprisingly omitted. OLP played homage to another Canadian Band The Tragically Hip by throwing in “Locked in a Trunk of a Car.” They closed the set with “Starseed.”

Stockbridge, Atlanta band Collective Soul were up next. The band has a 30 year history and continues to release great new music. This was no more evident than their 2024 12^th studio effort titled ‘Here to Eternity.’ The band is still led by charismatic frontman Ed Rowland. Rowland had a white cowboy with some glitter on his face to accentuate his unique look. I believe this is the first area appearance by the band since they opened for the Goo Goo Dolls in 2016. The band opened up with a cool new track called “Mother’s Love. “Keep it on Track” was the other new song in the 13-song set. Of course, the hit song “Shine” had everyone singing the chorus “Whoa, Heaven let Your Light Shine Down.” A great interactive song and crowd pleaser. Guitarists Dean Rowland (brother of Ed) and Jesse Triplette really were solid in delivering quality riffs all night. A fantastic set was performed by Collective Soul!

+Live+ headlined this show but have been alternating headline slots on this tour. It’s been 8 years since I have seen +Live+ and they had a total overhaul of their lineup since teh last time I seen them. Only vocalist & guitarist Ed Kowalczyk remains from the original band. The rest of the band consisted of touring musicians Zak Loy on lead guitar, Chris Heerlein on bass, Nick Jay on keyboards and Johny Radelat on drums. It’s been 11 years since the band has released any new material, so the set obviously focused on their past catalog. That included a heavy dose of their initial effort ‘Throwing Copper.’ Their set was heavily concentrated on this album. Who can blame them as it spurned 5 singles and sold over 8 million copies. Kowalczyk went back and forth singing acapella and playing the guitar. Songs like “Selling the Drama” and “All Over You” really got the juices flowing at the beginning of their set. They held steady in the middle of their set with songs like “Iris” and “Shite Town.” They closed it with the banger “I Alone” and the ballad “Lightning Crashes.” The touring musicians Kowalczyk surrounded himself with were truly seasoned professionals. The band was solid on all fronts.

Even though the temperatures were soaring out, all of the bands pushed through and gave the crowd a memorable concert experience overall.

Setlists:

+Live+ setlist:

Pain Lies on the Riverside

Selling the Drama

All Over You

Iris

Lady Bhang (She Got Me Rollin’)

T.B.D.

Shite Towne

The Dolphins Cry

Leave the Radio On