Collective Soul has played multinight engagements before, but never in Las Vegas. Fortunately it chose a venue, The Venetian Theatre, that’s been very good to acts such as Styx, Chicago, and Earth, Wind & Fire. “We try to make it an annual thing where we play a January Vegas show,” says rhythm guitarist Dean Roland. “This is our first multinight (series of shows), so we’re looking forward to it.”
Looking forward is something Collective Soul has always done, save for anniversary tours like last year’s celebration of three decades since the band struck pay dirt with sleeper single “Shine.” That tour was also in support of Here to Eternity, a 20-track double album recorded in Elvis Presley’s Palm Springs residence.
If there was a legacy rock act that qualifies as a working-man’s band, Collective Soul is it. Dean and older brother Ed Roland got the band back in action as soon as restrictions lifted and logged many miles on tours, both solo and with Hootie & the Blowfish. This year they join Our Lady Peace on the road to help that ’90s-originating act celebrate its 30th birthday.
“We always look at this as an opportunity we got 30 years ago. We love what we do,” says Roland. “We just try to stay active and appreciate the fact that we get to play music for a living.”
Music has been a blessing for the Roland brothers since they grew up in a household headed by a Baptist minister in an Atlanta suburb. Ed, older by eight years, attended Berklee College of Music and soaked up the sounds of then-popular bands such as The Cars before returning home and working at a recording studio.
It was there Ed slowly made a demo with scraps of audio tape cut from other bands’ sessions, a recording that would include “Shine.” The song made waves independently and was subsequently championed by Orlando rock station WJRR.
Ed needed a band, and his younger brother had learned guitar while he was away. Dean’s destiny was sealed, but the approach Collective Soul took and the values it upheld were instrumental in leading to a healthy historical trajectory through hits that would become classics such as “December” and “The World I Know.”
“We had our moments of being morons when we were younger, just doing rock ‘n’ roll stuff, but we always tried to respect the fact … to take it serious. We wanted a career.” says Roland. “We’ve never really been a band to do too much reflection, to look back on it, going forward, but this year is our 30th year, and we filmed a career-spanning documentary, pretty much wrapped up now, that will come out next year.”
That process did lead to reflection, especially when perusing archival footage. Collective Soul very much lives in the present though, and plans to play with its setlists at the Venetian dates.
“We’ll mix it up, especially if we’re doing two nights,” says Roland. “Definitely don’t want to play the same set each night.”
The Venetian, 8:30 p.m. Jan. 17-18, starting at $45 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
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