FROM THE PIT TO THE CROWD: COLLECTIVE SOUL WITH SWITCHFOOT AND JADE JACKSON – HARD ROCK LIVE – ORLANDO FL – SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Ed Roland of Collective Soul

Sometimes you have an opportunity to attend a show that ends up being something truly unique. That was the best way to describe the show with Collective Soul, Switchfoot, and Jade Jackson at Hard Rock Live in Orlando, FL on September 16th. It was a crazy ride from start to finish and definitely one that was worth attending.

It started out as a very rainy day in Orlando and Universal Studios, where the Hard Rock Live resides, was packed due to Halloween Horror Nights going on. The fans were lined around the building trying to find shelter from the rain. The Hard Rock Live got the fans in as fast as they could to keep the fans as dry as possible. When I walked inside, I noticed the entire venue floor had seats laid out. I’ve seen seats for shows before but I wasn’t expecting this for a rock show. And it was a packed show that evening too. People filled the seats, the sides, and the balcony too. The energy was high in anticipation to see the artists perform.

Jade Jackson opened the show. The singer-songwriter from California was thrilled to be on tour and graciously thanked Collective Soul and Switchfoot for having her on the tour. She performed with an acoustic guitar and her beautifully clear vocals. She was an absolute joy to listen to her singing. Her lyrics have that personal touch that seems like writing from her experiences on songs “Secret” and “Motorcycle”. And her take on Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” was very well performed. Jade Jackson is an artist I expect to see on the rise soon.

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Next was Switchfoot the rock band out of San Diego, CA. The band found early success in the Christian rock scene before turning to mainstream rock. It would be their 2003 album The Beautiful Letdown that would be that defining standout moment as the album would be certified double Platinum. Their album Hello Hurricane would win the Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album. The band has released 12 studio albums with Interrobang released in 2021. Switchfoot is comprised of brothers Jon Foreman (vocals, guitar) and Tim Foreman (bass), Jerome Fontamillas (keyboards), Chad Butler (drums), and touring musician Boaz Roberts (lead guitar).

The one thing that speaks out about a Switchfoot show is the band’s energy, passion, and camaraderie on stage. They are phenomenal live performers (as I’ve seen them perform before) and I’m never disappointed with the energy they provide. Jon is a fantastic vocalist and sings with such heart and soul. Tim backs him up and sings with that same style. Recently added Boaz is a wildman on the stage and provided some phenomenal jumps off his monitor getting some truly great height. Jerome plays the keyboards feeling every note and Chad beats on the drums with a smile.

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And they absolutely adore their fans. During the show, Jon jumped into the crowd to go stand by a young boy he had met earlier in the day and chatted with him before jumping back on stage to perform. Jon, later on, jumped off stage again and made his way into the crowd and sang from there for a song and even spoke to the crowd there too. And then there’s the camaraderie I mentioned. He gathered the band together on stage and brought out what someone called a twokulele. Together with just one instrument the band performed “Hello Hurricane”. Jon earlier in the show said they were going to do something from the 90s and he let his bandmates choose. The song they started performing was “Sabotage” from The Beastie Boys. Towards the end of their show they had machines blowing bubbles through the venue.

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And then we had the first crazy moments that occurred at the end of their set. As they were performing “Dare You to Move”, the power got cut from the stage and the band encouraged the fans to sing along to help them finish the song. It was weird because it seemed like the power was turned off and not cut off. While I was watching, I saw this flashing from the corner of my eye and looked up and noticed the fire alarm was flashing! And when I listened closely, I heard the automated voice asking people to evacuate, but the crowd was SO loud no one could hear it. I glanced over at a security guard who looked at me oddly and I pointed up at the flashing light, who suddenly realized what was going on and got on the radio to figure out if we needed to bail quickly. Security gathered media close to an exit, but fortunately, they turned off the alarm and said we were OK. Switchfoot had finished their set never noticing what had happened.

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You can find their music and merch over at https://switchfoot.com/. Their setlist that evening was:

  1. Take My Fire
  2. Stars
  3. Sabotage (Beastie Boys cover)
  4. Bull in a China Shop
  5. If I Were You
  6. Where the Light Shines Through
  7. Hello Hurricane
  8. Hit the Road Jack (Ray Charles cover)
  9. That’s the Way (I Like It) (KC and the Sunshine Band cover)
  10. Low (Flo Rida cover)
  11. Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)
  12. Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover)
  13. I Won’t Let You Go (with Jade Jackson and Jon Foreman)
  14. Float
  15. Where I Belong
  16. Meant to Live
  17. Dare You to Move

And then we were onto our headliners that evening Collective Soul. The rock band from Stockbridge, GA hit early success with the release of their single “Shine” in 1993 that rocked the radio world. But, it was their self-titled album in 1995 that truly brought on success as the album spent 76 weeks on the Billboard 200, and was certified triple Platinum. The album also released the singles of “December”, “The World I Know”, and “Where The River Flows” and each of them hit #1. The band would go on to release 11 studio albums with their most recent Vibrating released on August 12, 2022. Collective Soul is comprised of brothers Ed Roland (vocals, guitar) and Dean Roland (rhythm guitar), Will Turpin (bass), Jesse Triplett (lead guitar), and Johnny Rabb (drums).

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As Switchfoot closed with some crazy event, Collective Soul’s set started with a crazy event. Right as the band stepped onto the stage, they started performing “Cut the Cord” from the new album, and no more than 30 seconds into it, the whole stage went dark. As if someone cut the cord to the stage. Ed immediately got his acoustic guitar from the stage hand, jumped down into the photo pit with us, and started playing and singing to the fans sitting in the front row. It took a minute or two before the power came back on, and Ed got back onto the stage to continue with the show. He decided to forgo re-doing the song and jumped into their well-known song “Heavy”. And Ed sounded good, really good. He was smooth on stage, he danced and grooved, and all eyes were on him. Jesse played those chords so well with Dean throwing down his own as well. Will provided backing vocals very well and kept that bass line moving. Johnny was all smiles behind the drums and played in perfect timing.

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Collective Soul knows how to throw a rock show. It was fun, it was energetic, and the fans were completely engaged all night long. And what a fantastic selection of songs they performed too! They of course had to perform “Shine” which was awesome. I assumed that would be their closer, but instead performed it very early in their set. They also included “December”, “The World I Know”, and “Better Now”. Ed did a wonderful solo version of “Bob Dylan Where Are You Today” with a harmonica and acoustic guitar. But, one of the best parts of the night was seeing Collective Soul perform R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” with both Jon Foreman and Jade Jackson joining them on stage. It was heartfelt, grand, and downright perfect.

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All around it was a perfect night of music with a great crowd who truly appreciated everything those bands left on the stage. You can find Collective Soul’s music and merch at https://collectivesoul.com/. Their setlist that night was:

  1. Cut The Cord (song aborted due to power issues)
  2. Heavy
  3. All Our Pieces
  4. Shine
  5. Undone
  6. Better Now
  7. Bob Dylan Where Are You Today
  8. She Said
  9. The World I Know
  10. Right As Rain
  11. December
  12. The One I Love (R.E.M. cover with Jon Foreman and Jade Jackson)
  13. Gel
  14. Where the River Flows
  15. Run

 

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