EDMONTON -- Adam Duritz provided some strong vocals last night. I heard this on Dr. Katz: Here's a way to tell what kind of band you're about to see before they play - if the drummer has a gong, it's not a good band. Similarly, if there's a mirror ball, it may be a good band, but it probably has annoying traits you just have to put up with. That was the case with the Counting Crows, which drew 1,200 loyal fans to the Winspear Centre last night. One just knew that the ominous sphere lurking in the rafters would have a spotlight turned on it sooner or later, peppering the audience with a thousand points of light - all so singer Adam Duritz could pour his heart out in one of the band's slower, oh-so-sensitive songs. But they're fine tunes, for the most part, well-written and lovingly performed. Opening with Mr. Jones - get that huge hit out of the way - the Counting Crows drew from three albums, including the as yet unreleased This Desert Life. One of the early highlights was the funky rocker, Hangingaround, a song about being young in Berkeley, California, as Duritz explained in an interview. And Another Horsedreamer's Blues, a jazz waltz with shades of Van Morrison, was inspiring. If you were counting the crows, there was one extra last night: David Immergluck, who added mandolin, slide and steel guitars to an already busy mix. The band filled the Winspear, resulting in some initial harsh sound that smoothed over as the show went on. As for the dreadlocked Duritz, he's a strong singer who emotes with passion and honesty. But man, does he lay it on thick! It's amazing how he can regurgitate his inner thoughts and memories for his fans night after night after night and still maintain such intensity. Each song had at least one moment of high drama, each drawn from some self-absorbed personal experience. Duritz's life is an open book. It's all there in the Crows' music, even his most mundane memories made poetic and profound. He introduced Round Here with a tale about, er, being young in Berkeley, California. Living in poverty, struggling in the music business, the trains would go by at night, he said, and ... ah, you get the idea. He sounded like the narrator from The Wonder Years. At at the end of the song that stretched to more than six minutes, Duritz lowered his voice and raised his puppy-dog eyebrows to utter the words, "Can you tell me one thing you remember about me?" Yeah - good band, shame about the mirror ball! It's easy to see why Duritz is such a big fan of the opening act, the Gigolo Aunts. The Boston band has solid musicianship, the ability to really rock out when required - and is just a wee bit precious. "They rock," as Duritz said (introducing the opening act himself - classy move). And they did. The band surely won over a few fans last night, thanks to the charismatic (and very funny) singer Dave Gibbs and one clever pop gem after another. The sound of the band falls into the heavier side of "roots rock" with a melodic flair similar to Crowded House. It's music perfect for young couples who like to cuddle in front of the TV and watch Friends. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The Gigolo Aunts actually sound a bit like the Rembrandts - but with a lot more guts. If they keep it up, this band should be headlining its own concert hall tour before too long.