Five Counting Crows Songs We Can’t Wait To Hear At Their Adelaide Show

Ahead of the American rockers Counting Crows' Australian tour, we selected five songs we want to hear when they hit Adelaide.

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For more than three decades, Grammy and Academy Award-nominated rock band Counting Crows have enchanted listeners worldwide with their intensely soulful and intricate take on timeless rock and roll. 

Fronted by singer-songwriter Adam Duritz, Counting Crows have been mainstays of the alt-rock scene since the release of their 1993 multi-platinum breakthrough album, August and Everything After, which features the band’s iconic hit single ‘Mr. Jones’.

Since then, Counting Crows have released seven more albums, including last year’s Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!, their first studio album in over a decade.

This year, the band returns to Adelaide with The Complete Sweets! Tour - bringing decades of sing-along moments, deep cuts and fresh energy to the iconic Festival Theatre.  

Ahead of the show, we’ve picked our five favourite Counting Crows songs we hope make the setlist ahead of their performance in Adelaide on Friday 27 March. Tickets on sale now via adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au.

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‘A Long December’ (1996)

This is the song most Counting Crows fans pick when asked to name the band’s best track. ‘A Long December’ is a great snapshot of the American alternative scene that took the world by storm in the ‘90s. A ballad about a friend of Duritz’s who was injured after being hit by a car, it has a classic alt-rock vibe and is reminiscent of Ben Folds Five’s ‘Brick’, which came out a year later.

Speaking about ‘A Long December’ in a 2025 interview with UK publication The Independent, Duritz said, “I knew that was the best thing I'd ever written when I wrote it. I knew it was a perfect song, and I knew I was going to love playing it forever.”

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‘Big Yellow Taxi’ (2002)

Teaming up with Vanessa Carlton proved a masterstroke for Counting Crows. Originally recorded by Joni Mitchell and released in 1970, the band recorded the song with Carlton for the soundtrack to the Sandra Bullock film Two Weeks Notice.  

Despite initial reviews criticising the cover, it’s become a fan favourite over the years and a constant in the band’s setlist. The cover takes Mitchell’s acoustic original and adds a dash of contemporary pop, resulting in a feel-good, upbeat track perfect for any road trip playlist.

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‘Mr. Jones’ (1993)

The song Counting Crows are best known for was the lead single from their debut album, August and Everything After. Grammy Award-winning producer T-Bone Burnett was behind the boards, with the song peaking at #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while making it all the way to the top of the charts in Canada.

The song takes inspiration from a real-life moment when Duritz and The Himalayans bassist Marty Jones went to a bar to watch Jones’ dad perform. While there, they noticed Kenney Dale Johnson, longtime drummer for Chris Isaak, hanging out with three beautiful women. The two discussed how easy it would be to pick up girls if they were rock stars, leading to Duritz writing ‘Mr. Jones’ about his craving for success after he got home.

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‘Accidently In Love’ (2004)

Counting Crows love writing songs for soundtracks. After finding chart success with their take on Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, the band were enlisted to write a song for the soundtrack to Shrek 2.  

Duritz was tasked with writing a song about himself, not Shrek. The result was ‘Accidently in Love’ – a boppy pop-rock ditty that turned into a monster worldwide hit, topping the Billboard US Adult Alternative Airplay Charts.

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‘Round Here’ (1994)

If anyone believed Counting Crows would be a one-hit wonder after the release of ‘Mr. Jones’, the band proved the doubters wrong with their second single from August and Everything After, the funky yet introspective ‘Round Here’.

Duritz has given several interviews discussing the meaning behind the song, but the general gist of the lyrics is about Duritz being in a band, working shitty jobs and having to decide whether to keep on pursuing his dream or join the rat race. Thankfully, he kept going with music.

Catch Counting Crows at Festival Theatre on Friday March 27. Tickets on sale now via adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au.

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