April 19, 2000, 9:00 pm PT

Ed Kowalczyk, Adam Duritz

For Adam Duritz and Ed Kowalczyk, the upcoming Live/Counting Crows summer tour isn't just another great package tour. It's a statement of their friendship and shared commitment to songwriting, and one of the few truly organic pairings of the coming summer concert season.

"The thing is, when we put this out there the response [from promoters] was overwhelming. Like, 'This is it. This will pack them in every night,'" says Live front man Kowalczyk sitting poolside at his good friend Duritz's Beverly Hills house. "I think it's great. I think it's a statement that goes above and beyond just a package of two big bands. It's two bands that got the idea for touring together because they're mutual fans of each other. It's a real organic thing; it doesn't have any of the, 'well, it'll sell so let's just do it.'"

To hear Duritz explain their desire to tour together makes the two pals sound more like school girls who miss each other on summer break. "We'd been friends and we'd talk about how it would be fun to be on the road together because we see each other a lot when we're making records because we're both in town. [Kowalczyk lives in L.A., too]. But, you talk from across the world. I would get a cell phone call from Ed, 'Hey, how you doing? I'm in Holland.' Or, 'I'm in South Africa, what's going on?'," says Duritz. "It'll be great. I've always enjoyed touring with friends and I've always made friends with people we've toured with. And, I know so many musicians all over the world because of our touring history."

Fans can expect two full headline shows -� each about 75 minutes long. Live will headline in some markets, Counting Crows will headline in others. "We have really different, interesting looks onstage so we're trying to -- as much as possible -- recreate the unique look without having to carry tons and tons of equipment and with the ability to still do a quick changeover. You want to come see a Live concert and a Counting Crows show," says Duritz. "It's about creating the mood for the music. We both have really good lighting shows -� not like Pink Floyd. But, [Live's] light show is really awesome. I've heard great things about ours and the pictures are really great [he laughs], but their light show is really awesome."

With the great friendship and mutual admiration for each other's music, the natural thing to happen on this tour is for some musical mingling onstage. Neither singer is willing to come right out and say that, though. "I think anything that emerges will be spontaneous," says Kowalczyk. "I mean, obviously, we're setting it up that it is gonna happen because the tour itself is a statement of our own friendship. We don't want to mess it up by planning it too much, though."

The tour kicks off July 28 in Kansas City, Mo. simply for logistical reasons. When asked if the tour was kicking off in a smaller city instead of a major market is so that they can have a few shows under their belts before all the major music critics write about the shows, Kowalczyk quipped, "We're gonna kick ass every night so that's not really an issue."

-- Carrie Borzillo