Originally Published on November 10th, 2026

My First Live Concert was at Riverstages Music Festival in Nashville, Tn, May 3rd, 2003. I was 21 Years Old and They were my Favorite Band.

I knew all of their songs from all of their albums. I had tee shirts, I had guitar picks. I shaved my head just like Ed, my idol, did. That night, a fellow patron of the festival stared at me briefly before approaching me and telling me, “You know, you really resemble the lead singer of Live.” I tried to play it cool, but I’m sure I didn’t because that was about as good of a compliment anyone could ever give me in those days.

It was time for the show to start. The lights went dark. I was trying to force my vision to defy the darkness in an effort to get my first glimpse of my heroes. Then, blinding light. A sonic burst of sound as the band effortlessly started in on the intro for their unreleased, upcoming song Like I Do. I watched Ed, Chad, Chad, and Pat intently. I studied their every move. I was in awe. I admired them.

Live played a remarkable set including favorites like Lakini’s Juice, I Alone, Selling the Drama, Dolphins Cry, as well as selections from their upcoming album, Birds of Prey. And, of course, they played my favorite song; their most famous song, Lightning Crashes.

The show was over. Def Leopard was the co-headlining act but I didn’t want anything to distort my experience of watching Live perform so my sister and I decided to leave. On our way out, we saw the gated area that was restricted for the performers and teams of assistants, roadies, etc. Just on the other side of the fence, off to himself, I spotted Chad Taylor just taking a stroll, smoking a cigarette. My sister and I approached the fence and we started telling him how much we enjoyed the show. This mega rock star behaved as anything but, as he responded with kindness and graciousness. He started to approach the fence to talk to us. As he did, a mass of fans saw him and hoarded around us. He looked at my sister and I, apologized, and retreated to the buses.

Though we had missed the opportunity, I now had hope that maybe he might come back around. My sister and I waited for a moment and a quiet gentleman came up to me and explained he was a manager for the band and Chad had told him what had happened and asked him to see if we wanted anything signed. I clumsily handed him a booklet that I had from my CD, V, and he disappeared behind the gate. I watched him as he would disappear into one cluster of people, reemerge, then disappear into another.

Then, I saw him. Standing around a circle of people was Ed, talking and laughing. The manager, booklet in hand, stood behind him patiently waiting to interrupt him with the request. My sister and I stood at the closed gate; I think I may have even been holding my breath. I watched him tap Ed on the shoulder. I watched as he turned around and I watched his assistant mouth something to him. Then I heard Ed say, “Dude, who’s this from?” I watched as the assistant pointed in our direction. I heard my sister grab my arm and say “Oh my god!” and my heart stopped as I watched Ed bolt towards the gate, directly to us.

Ed was larger than life. For the first time in my life, I was starstruck. My sister, the shiest human being on the planet, was talking to him like they had saved each other’s lives in ‘Nam. I managed to fumble through a congratulations or something, and their manager ushered us all together for a picture. It was the complete concert experience.

Live Would Remain my Favorite Band for a Few more Years: Through Rose-Colored Glasses, Through Loyalty, Through Defiance, and Finally Through Denial.

Birds of Prey came out later that summer and it felt a little hollow compared to their previous work. The lyrics felt like Ed was trying to force an agenda or movement. The music sounded a little bit recycled. Songs from Black Mountain was even more so. Again, Ed seemed as if he was trying to replicate a formula of some kind of movement. The lyrics felt increasingly derivative. Live put out a greatest hits album, then a live album, and fans were treated with the release of Hold Me Up after nearly two decades of anticipation.

Then the unthinkable happened.

What started as a hiatus turned into a break up, then an onslaught of legal battles, and public accusations between Ed, who launched his own solo career, and CCP who formed the band The Gracious Few with members of Candlebox.

As news broke about the demand for a “lead singer bonus,” the secretive LLC that was created without the other three members, and the dispute over who was allowed to perform under the banner of Live, I personally felt the disappointment of it all pull into question my overall feelings for the band as a whole.

The harsh reality set in. I had been idolizing these guys for so long, I forgot they were imperfect, flawed human beings like the rest of us. After listening to Ed’s solo album and the album by The Gracious Few, I had all the evidence I needed and I chose sides.

When I listened to The Gracious Few, I still heard echoes of the band I once loved, even if it was just a glimmer of them. The music was different, and it was good. I laughed when I heard CT say in some article I had read, that he “didn’t want to play solos for a while.” To me, that meant he wanted to sort of rediscover his passion for music and just play and that gave me hope.

Though it was fun to see the Chads and Pat play in a different setting, it felt empty without the charisma that Ed brought in the early days of Live. There has never been any question that he once was a very charismatic frontman. That charisma though, had changed somewhere along the way.

Then came the announcement that would change the dynamic of Live for the foreseeable future. They were back.

But there was a catch.

Live Announced Their Official Return with a New Lead Singer, Chris Shinn.

Shinn, a respected talent as the frontman of Unified Theory, was relatively unknown on the national stage. To me, this was exciting because I thought it was somebody who could be molded into the energy that Chad, Chad, and Pat brought to every performance. I was eager to hear a voice, untainted by ego, come into the picture. I hoped this would provide that raw ability necessary to bring Live back to how they came to be in the first place. I started watching videos of them perform on YouTube and, when I heard Shinn perform, I was elated. He was every bit of what I was hoping for and more.

In 2014, after a year of touring with Shinn, Live announced their first album in 8 years, The Turn. 11 songs, at around 50 minutes. It was independently released through Think Loud Recordings, the band’s own label.

Commercially, The Turn, was not as successful as most of Live’s previous releases had been. For a band who had once topped Billboard charts and had sold more than 20 million records worldwide, it wasn’t even close to having that pull back to mainstream recognition.

What it did do, however, was reignite the fans. It reignited me.

I loved every second of The Turn. I wore that album out. From the start, with Siren’s Call, there was this haunting hora that settled over the entire work. The song The Strength to Hold On was a call back to what it felt like to listen to songs like White Discussion, where fans truly felt like Live were a voice for the rest of us. There was passion in every note, every beat, and every lyric. It was as if the band went back to square one, which was exactly where they needed to go.

The Turn resonated with fans and I watched as they found their way back to Live in droves. It didn’t need to be commercially successful because they had their audience back. Chris wasn’t Ed, but he didn’t have to be. The music had Live’s old energy but now it had something new, something different. It felt like it was something sustainable. I frequently visited fan chat groups and the general consensus matched how I felt. Fans were back and they wanted more of what The Turn was promising them.

The positive reception from Live’s fanbase extended to exactly one pair of ears too many.

Live, Featuring Chris Shinn, Began in 2012. After a Couple of Years of Touring, the Release of The Turn, and More Touring Afterwards, It Would End in 2016.

One day, I tuned in and saw a video of Chad Taylor and Ed Kowalczyk sitting in studio at a local radio station. Before I even listened, I knew what it was about. Ed was coming back to the band. He spoke as if nothing had happened, with beautiful sentiments like “we were always in a band, despite everything that happened over the last decade,” and “we are brothers, we are family, sometimes family have disagreements.” Chad sat there, supportive, but not saying much (I have to wonder, in that moment, if he wasn’t feeling doubtful). Not much was said by way of the band parting ways with Chris. I don’t know if it was a matter that they were unhappy with the band’s progress. I don’t know if there was a legal obligation to bring Ed back once he was willing to come back. I am not going to speculate.

The original lineup was back.

Shortly after Ed returned, the band started engaging more on social media, where they were doing Q&A’s with fans. I remember one, in particular, where they hosted a Q&A right as they had announced they were preparing to release an EP. I noticed that there weren’t particularly a lot of questions being asked and the band was doing a very good job of answering everyone’s questions. So, I asked them if this new EP was going to be a continuation of where the band left off after Songs from Black Mountain or were they going to be picking up from the momentum of The Turn. Then I waited. Fans started liking my question, responding that they would also like to know the answer to that question. The fans’ response was that they very much wanted to know the answer to that question. Just like me, the fans would not get an answer.

My question was the only question that wasn’t answered. Shortly after, there was a statement letting everyone know the Q&A was ending and to make sure to check out their new, upcoming single. Honestly, I think the snub was my answer. Either way, the answer to the question definitively came in October of 2018, when Live released their single, Be a Giver, Man, and the 5 song EP, Local 717.

Hollow.

Live started touring again and after a couple of years, things got quiet with the band. Then, Ed took to social media to publicly announce the immediate termination of Chad Taylor, saying he would “never stop the music again.”

Live Have Become Experts at Selling the Drama as the Drama Continues to This Day.

Shortly after the firing of Chad Taylor, news broke that Chad Gracey and Patrick Dalheimer were also terminated and that Ed would be continuing on as the sole member of Live with a touring band supporting him.

We would learn of business disputes between the Chads. We would learn of legal disputes between Ed and the rest of the band. Patrick started touring with Daughtry and publicly stayed out of the fiasco. The disagreement between CT and CG seemed quite serious, to the point many wondered if they would ever be caught in the same room together again.

Somehow, they did manage to find common ground. I’m not going to speculate whether or not the issue is or was resolved, that’s not why I’m writing this. Now, Live continues with Ed. After Local 717, they put out a single, Lady Bhang, and it is just not good.

It pretty much is conclusive that the power that fueled Live never was Ed. In fact, I believe that Live is what fueled Ed, actually. He sure doesn’t have it without Chad, Chad, and Pat.

On the other hand, Chad, Chad, and Pat once found something meaningful with Chris Shinn. I still follow Chad, Chad, and Pat on social media. I was inspired to write this because CT disclosed the three original members of First Aid (their band name before changing it to Public Affection, then Live) were making music with Chris, once again. I really hope they do. I would love to hear them reconnect with that passion that made their music so special. It’s easy to see that it still means so much to them. Whether they release as Live or as something else, I will be there. A name is just that; a name.

In fact, maybe it’s better if they don’t perform as Live. Right now, Ed is dealing with the imposter syndrome of trying to live up to a reputation he cannot carry on his own. No matter how good the music is with Chris, Chad, Chad, and Pat, there may always be a lingering division for people loyal to Ed and the peak of Live’s success. Maybe it’s time to take that out of the equation. Maybe it’s time to take a turn in a new direction.