nthe surface , it resembles any other cleverly-conceived summer shed tour – alt-rock powerhouse Live coheadlining a massive jaunt with folk-rocking combo Counting Crows , celebrating the 25th anniversaries of both . Great bang for your

years . Kowalczyk can ’ t help it – he feels reinvigorated this time around like he ’ s caught his second wind . And , he ’ s happy to report , it all feels like a fairytale ending for the once illfated Live . “ It ’ s like a dream , and we ’ re pinching ourselves daily because we ’ re having such a blast ,” he says . “ Seeing us come back together like this , and be as creative as we have – not just with the shows but with what we ’ re doing in the studio , as well – has just been a wonderful thing .”

ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER : So what is a “ Love Lounge ,” exactly ? ED KOWALCZYK : Thinking about that song , at the moment you hit a bar , I mean , what better name than The Love Lounge ? It ’ s kind of a fantasy bar I ’ ve had in my head –

concert buck , all told . But to Live leader Ed Kowalczyk – who acrimoniously quit the band in 2009 , then later rejoined in 2016 – it signifies so much more . It ’ s the fourth time that he and Crows leader Adam Duritz have been on the road together – the singers are old friends at this point – and it also marks the official reformation of Live ’ s founding members , a surprise only the most observant fan could have seen coming . Additionally , the group has quietly been writing and recording together again , and the results – as heard on the galloping new single “ Love Lounge ,” from a forthcoming , as-yet-untitled EP – are the first new tracks from the group in seven

who knows ? Maybe I ’ ll open one called The Love Lounge one day . But lyrically , it came to us through Zack Lloyd , our guitar player who is touring with Live and is now part of the writing process , as of last year . He sent me this riff , and in a stream-of-consciousness , I started to go with it , because it had such a great vibe and a beautiful arrangement . Then Chad Taylor , our guitar player , produced and arranged it , and the energy was just infectious right away . We actually got to play it for the first time in concert in Boise the other night , and the response was just through the roof . IE : But you ’ ve got more new songs in the

pipeline , right ? EK : We do . We ’ ve got an EP that ’ s ready – we just have to mix it . So we ’ re hoping to put that out when the tour is over , in the fall . So we already did all the hard work – now the fun part is listening to the mix , then putting all that work together . And we actually started writing right away after regrouping . And the process of us reuniting started about three years ago . We have this amazing studio in York , PA , and we got in there right away and were writing . But it really took off after we played our first shows last year , together again after seven years apart . We played a lot of festivals and shows like Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza . And when we got back from doing all that , it really kicked up our energy , kicked up our tempos – everything

Ed Kowalczyk ( second left ) and Live

was like , “ We wanna rock ! We wanna rock , fast and hard , and have a great time !” And thanks to that energy getting kicked up a notch ; now we have this EP that ’ s pretty much ready to go .

IE : But how did you guys get back in touch in the first place ? And not through lawyers this time ? EK : Rewind all the way back to 2009 . We ’ d decided on a break , which turned into a much longer break than anybody had anticipated . But that ’ s life – it ’ s a box of chocolates . But three years ago , Chad and I really started to miss each other . And we said , “ Let ’ s get back onstage together , or let ’ s just get in a room just to see what happens .” That ’ s the short version of how it all started . But right