COLLECTIVE SOUL – Casino Rama, Orillia, Ontario (Blog)

June 15th, 2023 marked the 5th time I would see the Atlanta, GA-based band, Collective Soul. If you think that is a lot, trust me, it is not, as these concerts span a period going as far back as 1994. Geez, I’ve seen Tesla live 5 times in the last four years… This fact about Collective Soul and I is significant because they will always be special to me because this was the band that dethroned Mötley Crue as my favourite band; that was monumental at the time. It goes without saying that every chance I get, I gotta see them play live.

I think it was in January of this year I saw that Collective Soul would be playing at the Casino Rama in Orillia, ON. That’s about two hours north of Toronto, ON along the shores of Lake Simcoe and just short of 5 hours drive from my hometown. Did I want to see their show that badly? Hells YA!!!

Great Company

Despite the steep price of the tickets, I was all in. What added to the excitement was the fact that the venue it would be taking place was a place I’d been meaning to check out for years as many great acts played there. So two tickets were purchased but I had not even asked any of my friends if they wanted to come with me. My usual concert-going buddy Al wouldn’t be able to go because of his job. My C&C Music Family already had another gig lined up elsewhere and my other friends aren’t into Collective Soul.

Well, after checking what else the venue had to offer, I thought of one more person that may be interested. It was a long shot, but, it wouldn’t hurt to ask….. my WIFE. NO ONE was as surprised as I was when she accepted. I’ve been to hundreds of sporting events and concerts in the 20 years we’ve been together and in that time, less than ten times was she with me.

Multiple driving options were available for this trip. We chose the scenic route which was not all that much longer than the highway routes. When we arrived, we were most impressed by this large casino, hotel, and entertainment complex on the reserve land of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation. A Fantastic Dinner was had pre-gig at St. Germain’s Steakhouse and then, it was SHOW TIME.

The Show Begins

Right away, I was a bit disappointed as to how far from the stage we were considering how expensive the tickets were. That would not last long as this proved to be an advantage at certain points of the show. It was 8:10p.m. when Collective Soul hit the stage. They opened with a track off their newest album, Vibrating, called “Cut the Cord“. I thought they would have opened with “Heavy“, but that ended up being the second track. “Right As Rain“, off of their 2019 Blood Album was next. Quickly followed by a song off of their 1999 Dosage album I never paid attention to called “Compliment“.

It was after this one, lead vocalist, Ed Roland first addressed the crowd by stating “O Canada, it’s been too long”. Just as the guitarists Dean Roland and Jesse Triplett found a clever way of introducing the immortal opening riff of one of their most popular songs, “Shine“. Now this classic, with its catchy sing-alongs, was the first occasion I got to hear the crowd participation. And I have to say, I was impressed, as was Ed Roland.

Solos

One of my favourites followed and it was the lead track to their 1997 Disciplined Breakdown album called “Precious Declaration“. This was then followed by the ever-catchy “Better Now” off of their 2004 Youth album. As Jesse had just blitzed through the lead guitar solo when a most unexpected drum solo by the boisterous Johny Rabb occurred. It wasn’t a Neil Peart or Cozy Powell drum solo. Nor was it meant to be as it distracted us from the current track only to take us back to the chorus seamlessly before a thunderous closing. It was at this point that our distance to the stage did not matter anymore. We got to see an aerial shot of the drum solo on the video screens on each side of the stage. The General audience would not have been able to see these screens.

New Collective Soul

The spotlight shone on Ed after that as he told us a story about how the next two tracks came to be. Throughout the pandemic, Collective Soul kept very busy by producing no less than three albums in three years. One of them just happened to be recorded at Elvis Presley’s house….. No, not Graceland. It was at his other house in Palm Springs, CA. Ed showed off the fact that he was the only other man to ever sleep in Elvis’s bedroom…. Even though it was in a blow-up bed from Walmart. The new tracks titled “Let It Flow” and “Not the Same” came from these sessions. We, at the Casino Rama Entertainment Theatre, were the first to hear these performed live.

The band then took us back to a happy place by performing powerful, timeless classics like “The World I Know” and “December” off their first self-titled album of 1995. The latter segwayed into a solo 12-string acoustic number performed only by Ed Roland. This mushy song was called “Letter from Me“.

The End Approaches

Yet another surprise was sprung upon us when Ed name-dropped other bands from the State of Georgia that had influenced Collective Soul. Ray Charles, James Brown, the Black Crowes, The B-52’s and the band they covered with their version of “The One I Love” by none other than R.E.M.. As the crowd demonstrated their appreciation for the band, the bassist, Will Turpin, took the lead in hyping us up even more until the rest of the band neatly disguised an intro into my favourite Collective Soul song, “GEL“. The endless energy of the band persisted as another favourite called “Where the River Flows” began before the crowd had finished cheering.

When it ended, Johhny Rabb left his drum stool, Dean Roland and Jesse Triplett handed over their guitars to their techs. Will Turpin popped back out from backstage without his bass. All high-fived each other and walked the stage throwing pics and drumsticks. Ed started playing the riff to one of their popular songs called “Run“. The bandmates looked at him for a split second and then all started to clap along with us, encouraging Ed. Johhny went and got a tambourine and this acoustic jam took on more and more life. Slowly, band members tightened and formed a huddle as the momentum of the song got faster until it finally came to a crashing, crowd-pleasing end. I think we were all in shock as to how the show ended. Deep down, I think we all knew that an encore would not be necessary.

Final Words

Yet another Collective Soul show was over and I really enjoyed it. The price of admission, the distance traveled, and the resort accommodations for me were all worth it! I was glad to have splurged a bit for this gig. The company I had was a big bonus too.

COLLECTIVE SOUL OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK

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