The Weight - Birthday Countdown: 8 Days

Countless rumors about this year's Coachella lineup were confirmed today when a number of artists were announced as officially playing the Indio, CA event in April. One of those announced is the recently reunited The Verve. I have been looking forward to hearing about American tour dates for Richard Ashcroft and company ever since last summer when the band announced it was getting back together after a six year hiatus. It is with mixed feelings that I read today about their playing in the Palm Springs desert at the "other" festival, because I'm not going to Coachella. I'm going back to Bonnaroo. Very few acts play both festivals in a given year and I don't really believe that The Verve is a Bonnaroo band. So, there is now a chance that this will be the only Stateside tour date for The Verve and I may not get a chance to see them in concert after all these years of waiting. I certainly hope that more shows are announced in this country for these Brit rockers, but at this point, there is no guarantee.

Scala & Kolacny Brothers is a Belgian girls' choir, conducted by Stijn Kolacny and accompanied by Steven Kolacny on the piano. Formed in 1996 and winning the Belgian 'Choir of the Year'-contest in 2000, they have made 5 studio albums, starting with On The Rocks in 2002. In their albums and in concert, they cover a wide variety of rock and pop songs as far ranging as Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony."

I find it wholly appropriate that today's cover is Scala & Kolacny Brothers' chorale rendition of "Bittersweet Symphony". They strip out the orchestral string intro and allow their collective powerful voices to carry the song, accompanied by a lone piano. The resulting sound is more akin to the opening of the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" rather than their "The Last Time" from which The Verve sampled for the original "Bittersweet Symphony." As a historical note, The Verve did originally clear the rights to that sample, but legal counsel for the Stones argued that they used "too much of it". As a retort to the verdict, Richard Ashcroft introduced the tune with, "This is the best song [Mick] Jagger and [Keith] Richards have written in 20 years."

The news that The Verve are playing in America is simultaneously fantastic for them and disappointing for me. Dare I call it....bittersweet? They are certainly deserving of top billing here in America, but I unfortunately won't be there to see it unfold. Where do I start the petition to have the AT&T Blue Room include them on the webcast?

Scala & Kolacny Brothers - Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve Cover)