SOUND ADVICE

Counting Crows

June 18 • PNC Pavilion

Every time it looks like classic rock may finally be extinct, a sonic relic from the past, some veteran band steps up and still proves its vitality and connection to rock’s vintage years. Consider the Counting Crows, who began their illustrious career in 1993 with the release of their classic debut, August and Everything After With their dramatic arrangements, hit singles like “Mr. Jones” and “Round Here” spawned massive alternative radio success, and also demonstrated lead singer Adam Duritz’s love for rock royalty like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison. Whether it’s Duritz’s emotionally-charged vocals, the band’s guitar jangle hooks, or the moody melodies of their rich roots-rock, something nostalgic about the Crows resonates with both older and younger generations of fans.

The underrated Somewhere Under Wonderland was the Crows’ last fulllength record in 2014, but more recently, they put out EP “Butter Miracle Suite One” in 2021. Duritz discussed their last EP with Entertainment-Focus in 2022: “I hadn’t had the urge to write or put anything out for a while until then. Butter Miracle kinda caught me by surprise and I was so excited about wanting to do it.”

Despite not releasing music at the same regularity as they did in decades past, the Counting Crows still tour regularly and can be expected to play a full range of their material at their PNC Pavilion show.

The Counting Crows plays the PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center at 7:30 p.m. June 18. Dashboard Confessional opens the show. Doors open at 6 p.m. Info: riverbend.org. (Greg Gaston)

My Morning Jacket

June 24 • MegaCorp Pavilion

My Morning Jacket brings their larger than life sound and cosmic live show to town from just down the road.

Frontman Jim James’ expressive vocals and songwriting alongside the highpowered and dynamic band propelled My Morning Jacket to being one of the most revered bands of the last 20 years.

The Louisville band brought a little touch of southern charm to the rock and roll revival in the early 2000s with their 2003 breakthrough record It Still Moves and single “One Big Holiday,’’ along with plenty of elements of classic rock, psychedelia and experimentation that grew with each record.

The band’s 2005 follow up, Z, expanded further on their sound with bigger production, even more versatile structures and a bit more melodic and soulful vocal delivery. The critically praised album was ranked in Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums of All Time in 2012.

They reached a new level of notoriety with the Grammy-nominated Evil Urges in 2008, which contained more R&B influences, use of nontraditional rock and roll instrumentation and wildly divergent songwriting in “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream, Pt. 1” and “I’m Amazed.”

Their highest charting album, 2011’s Circuital, received yet another Grammy nomination and was followed by a break where James participated in high-profile side projects, like The New Basement Tapes, and released the first of a handful of praised solo records.

After constant touring and the recording sessions that became The Waterfall (2015) and The Waterfall II (2020), the band didn’t know if they would return. After some reflection, they reconnected for a 2021 self-titled release and continued touring. Catch them at this stop for a chance to see one of the latest generation’s greats.

My Morning Jacket plays MegaCorp Pavilion at 6 p.m. June 24. Jaime Wyatt opens the show. Info: promowestlive. com. (Brent Stroud)

Toad The Wet Sprocket

June 26 • Taft Theatre

When Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “All You Want 2023 Tour” arrives at the Taft Theatre later this month, the seats will surely be filled with fans ready to sing along. MTV darlings in the early ‘90s, the band (made up of Santa Barbara, California, pals who met in high school) produced a handful of smooth, indie-pop hits, grabbing national attention with the catchy “All I Want” from their platinum-selling third album, fear

They followed that soulful confection with the darker, if lilting, “Walk on the Ocean.” Not content to be a one-album wonder within a market dominated by grunge, the band released Dulcinea in

1994, which produced two more hits — “Fall Down” and “Something’s Always Wrong.”

After the next album, 1997’s Coil, failed to hold the public’s ear, the band broke up, focusing on solo projects while still occasionally doing short tours. In 2013, they released New Constellation, a Kickstarter-funded collection of new music on their own label, Abe’s Records. They’ve been making music together ever since, including the 2021’s album Starting Now

The group’s goofy name (swiped from a Monty Python skit) hasn’t aged as well as the songs, even for lead singer Glen Phillips. In a 2018 interview with Stereogum, he admits, “I don’t love it. It was a joke and it’s a good lesson in how … if you make a joke it might just stay with you.”

But he’s made his peace with it, adding, “It’s what we are, at this point.”

Shows on the tour offer a blend of the biggest hits and deep cuts. If you think you’ve forgotten the lyrics to those songs, just wait for the opening chords. The words will come flooding back.

Toad the Wet Sprocket plays the Taft Theatre at 8 p.m. June 26. Doors open at 7 p.m. Info: tafttheatre.org. (Jack Heffron)

Taylor Swift

June 30 and July 1 • Paycor Stadium

Taylor Swift is reclaiming her girlhood one sold-out stadium show at a time, and she’s coming to Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium on June 30 and July 1. The Ticketmaster-breaking sale for “The Eras Tour” perfectly foreshadowed the record-breaking craze that has been the “Eras,” um, era. Fans unearth Swift’s lore in the form of hyper-specific costumes, creating a fever dream masquerade ball themed around a singular millennial woman’s life. Swift’s 10 wildly successful albums have cemented her as the world’s best self-portrait artist, but her methodology of re-recording her masters has revealed her to be just like us –unafraid to admit she’s not always over the distant past.

A track on Swift’s latest release, Midnights, hints at the emotional toll of re-recording tracks about John Mayer from 2010’s Speak Now, which comes out July 7. In “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” Swift writes, “God rest my soul, I miss who I used to be. The tomb won’t close, stained glass windows in my mind. I regret you all the time.” The song’s Nashville performance in the pouring rain alongside The National’s Aaron Dessner flooded Swiftie algorithms for weeks. Swift walks the “Eras” tour audience through the stained glass windows of her past loves, fights, victories and growth like a one-woman show, but with the razzle-dazzle of an all-encompassing Vegas residency. The viral fascination with a tour about her past is brought to the ultrapresent under the looming context of her recent breakup from longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Fans dig for clues about her feelings on the breakup like kids in a sandbox, interpreting every wink, eyeroll and hair flip as code.

Now, Cincinnati “Eras” passengers are preparing for Swift to visit the Queen City for the first time in 13 years, her famously lucky number. One can predict Swift’s nostalgia for 2010, the year Speak Now was released, has inspired a set list with a surprise track from the album not performed yet during “Eras,” of which there is usually one per show. Audiences may just stand before a stained glass window from Swift’s mind in the shape of “Dear John.” If this writer’s prediction comes true, the entire Tri-State will hear the sound of bloodlust from more than 60,000 Swifties screaming for baby Taylor, but also, screaming for the “John” that hurt them.

Taylor Swift plays Paycor Stadium at 6:30 p.m. June 30 and July 1. Info: ticketmaster. com. (Madeline Fening)

Crossword

Across

1. Like a bagged lunch?

5. Not colorized, for short

10. Top cards

14. Lacoste rival