Certain friendships never die.At the end of last year the original lineup of the alternative rock band Live – Ed Kowalczyk, Chad Taylor, Patrick Dahlheimer and Chad Gracey – officially announced their reunion.
After scoring hit singles with “Lightning Crashes,” “I Alone,” “All Over You” and “Lakini’s Juice;” selling more than 22 million albums worldwide and earning two No. 1 charting albums with “Throwing Copper” and “Secret Samadhi;” they last performed together in July 2009. Lead singer Kowalczyk departed to pursue a solo career, while Taylor, Dahlheimer and Gracey joined forces with Kevin Martin and Sean Hennessy of Candlebox to form a group called The Gracious Few. For a time, Live replaced Kowalczyk with singer Chris Shinn.
In a phone interview, Kowalczyk said that it was “two and a half years ago exactly” when “the technical things that were keeping us apart settled down.” According to Kowalczyk, all it took to break the ice was a text message to Taylor asking how his kids were doing.
“We started the band when we were 13 years old. We were known as Public Affection when we were in high school. We were 15 or 16 when we named it that. We played a mix of our own material and cover tunes by R.E.M., The Cure, U2, all that ’80s alternative rock,” he said.
Taylor and Kowalczyk met up for a beer in their childhood stomping grounds in York, and that’s when the reunion rumors began. “It was like old times. It’s hard for us to be incognito in York, Pennsylvania,” Kowalczyk said with a laugh.
While they have “five or six” new songs in various stages of development, you probably won’t hear them during the Live concert Aug. 7 at Musikfest. “In a festival setting, we get 75 minutes, 60 minutes, 50 minutes. We haven’t put a new one in (the set) yet,” he said.
What you’re more likely to get are tracks from the double platinum “Secret Samadhi,” which marks its 20th anniversary this year. Calling it an enduring fan favorite, Kowalczyk said that album represents “a whole different color emotionally from anything we had done.”
When asked if he gets to see many performances on the festival circuit while on tour with Live, Kowalczyk said he wants to be there for the Aug. 6 Father John Misty show on the Sands Steel Stage at Musikfest. So far he’s watched Tom Petty, The Foo Fighters and Band of Horses from the wings of various stages. “It’s one of the main reasons I love to play festivals,” he said.
“Come on out to Musikfest. We’re looking forward to this semi-homecoming Pennsylvania show. We have a history in pretty much all of Pennsylvania,” said Kowalczyk, referring to Live’s original managers, David Sestak, who’s from Easton, and the late Peter Freedman, who was from Lancaster.
