Ed Kowalczyk, best known for his time as frontman of the successful American rockband Live, had just released his debut solo-album, and was on his first tour in support of this; in fact, this show was the last he’d be playing in Europe, before heading back home.

“It’s been too long, but we’ve saved the best for last, this is a beautiful venue!”
- Ed Kowalczyk (vocals)

After a competent warm-up by Danish new-comers Black Leather Machine, it was time for the main act to take the stage, and it was quite clear to all that this was truly a solo tour; all the musicians he had brought was placed way in the back of the deep stage, and Kowalczyk alone stood at the edge of the stage to take on the screaming fans.
And they were screaming, let me tell you. At times it felt as though I was at a boyband concert, with all the female high-pitched, ecstatic whines of joy filling the hall. This is not really what I’m used to hear at a concert, but then again, Ed Kowalczyk may be a bit out of our normal field of view. Nevertheless, this was as good a time as any to broaden our horizons, and after repeated spins of his debut album Alive, I was confident he had just the strong material to pull this off.

The show began with, after a short musical intro played by the band, with my personal favourite of the album, Just In Time, which in turn was followed by what Kowalczyk has stated is his favourite, The Great Beyond. So, now there wasn’t much to look forward to anymore, you might think, but you would be sadly mistaken with such an assumption!
Kowalczyk and band had a delightfully long setlist prepared for us on this night (21 songs in total, excluding the intro), and as it turned out it consisted of equal parts solo material and covers of his Live songs. For some reason only a single song from the solo debut, In Your Light, was left out. I wonder why that is?
Still, the Live material was well picked as well, and contained no less than four songs from their breakthrough album Throwing Copper, as well as a good collection from several of the bands other releases.
The familiar songs generated several sing-along’s throughout the night, but as the night went on, I noticed an interesting tendency; as I had been listening hard to Alive, but not much Live recently, I was singing along to all the solo-songs, but everyone else seemed quite still, however, when it was time for the old Live songs the rolls turned, and I was the only one silent in a sea of voices!

Kowalczyk proved himself as an experienced frontman and musician as he kept the momentum up through the entire night, never dropping the ball or letting our attention wander.
The musician part was shown as he in several songs joined in on acoustic guitar, but the frontman in him came first and foremost, proven by the fact that he was handing plectres out even before he began playing, just to keep the fans happy. Even the few misses were smoothly straightened out and quickly forgotten, like when he almost missed the start of Stand, as he was standing with a towel over his head.
Ok, so the heat in Vega did excuse the need for an occasional dry-off; I believe everyone was sweating, but none so much as the leading man. I’m sorry, but towards the end he was so wet the slightest movement of an arm or his head spread little drops of Kowalczyk flying everywhere!

“Eddie K and the Texas Rangers”
- Kowalczyk (vocals)

That’s a side-note though, and not really important for the complete success that the evening was. What did play a major part however, apart from Kowalczyk himself, was the band he had brought along. They were obviously quite skilled musicians all of them, as they performed every song to damn near perfection, but in addition to this they were also great performers, and managed to rock the stage even from their background position. Guitarist James Gabbie made a move at one point, which was followed directly by Kowalczyk going over to have a word with him, and my first impression of this was that the singer maybe didn’t want the attention stolen from himself, but the fact that he shortly after let the guitarist take the front of the stage by himself, as Kowalczyk headed over to check out the drumming of Ramy Antoun quickly put such an idea to rest.
In addition to these two also saw Chris Heerlein on bass, and younger brother Adam Kowalczyk on rhythm guitar and keyboard (in Overcome and They Stood Up For Love).

“You keep calling, Copenhagen, and I’ll keep coming back!”
- Kowalczyk (vocals)

It may have been unclear whether he referred to the fact that they played several (planned) encores, or maybe (hopefully) that he intends to visit our fair town again some day in a not too distant future, but one thing was certain; Copenhagen kept on calling! No wonder he had managed to get himself upgraded from the small stage up to the large long before the play-date.
I must admit, I was right in there with the rest of them, shouting along. I really loved the show, and when it was done I had a feeling of wanting more and at the same time being completely satisfied.
The only thing I believe I would have had differently, was that he should have ended on a solo song instead of a Live one; the latter may have been more pleasing for the general audience, but I think it would have worked better for him as an artist to do the former.

Setlist:

Just In Time
The Great Beyond
The Distance (Live cover)
All Over You (Live cover)
Selling The Drama (Live cover)
Zion
Drive
The Dolphin’s Cry (Live cover)
Soul Whispers
Drink (Everlasting Love)
Stand
Heaven (Live cover)
I Alone (Live cover)
Overcome (Live cover)
Fire On The Mountain
The Beauty Of Gray (Live cover)
Grace
Rome
They Stood Up For Love (Live cover)
Lightning Crashes (Live cover)
Dance With You (Live cover)