From the jazzy tunes of Galactic and the insightful lyrics of Adam Duritz’s Counting Crows to the rock-filled musings of York’s own Live, some 9,000 people were witness to one of the finer concerts that has made its way through Hershey Park’s Stadium this summer.

Whether the crowd was eager to see the local-band-turned-rock stars or merely eager to hear good music and have a good time, there was a definite energy that filled the venue — with an inspired sing-a-long quality from start to finish.

Taking the stage after Galactic were the Counting Crows, the folky rockers from San Francisco. And, more than merely singing their hits and quietly bowing to their hometown co-headliners, the Counting Crows instead delivered to the audience a small slice of Adam Duritz’s life. The soulful, introspective singer — clad in simple black pants and a blue shirt, with his signature dredlocks — cupped the microphone with two hands and with his profound, almost shy voice, opened the show with "Angels of Silences," a track off the band’s second album, Recovering the Satellites.

Under a sea of lights that followed Duritz and the band around in a slew of on-stage mannerisms that ranged from spastic jumping to loitering under the spotlight, the Crows performed selections from all three of their studio albums, from "Mr. Jones" off of their debut disc, August and Everything After, to the final song of the evening, the title track from Recovering the Satellites. Between songs, Duritz talked openly and with a familiar tone, connecting with the audience over talk of the fun of the tour, meeting (and trying to impress) Live front-man Ed Kowalczyk’s grandmother, and his desire to empty the contents of his stomach following a set of jumping around just hours after consuming a full meal at Live guitarist Chad Taylor’s house.

And while the Crows’ entire set was well-received by the spirited crowd, who swayed and sang to a string of the band’s classics, including "Omaha," "Rain King," the epic "Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby," and "Long December," which they neatly morphed into after a brooding intro of Oasis’ "Live Forever," perhaps the best — if not, most unique — offering of the evening was the live performance of their most recent hit, "hanginaround." Recorded, according to Duritz "with drunk and semi-drunk friends" who weren’t in attendance the night of the concert, the Crows were joined on-stage by friends, Live family members, and the members of both Galactic and Live. A combined effort, the live performance of the song proved a spectacular sight — the stage packed to both ends as the crowd watched Duritz and Kowalczyk trade verses as if they were in the midst of a duet, with Kowalczyk singing and dancing in a way completely different from the manner he would during those selections found in Live’s catalogue. To see and hear this song — which also included Duritz and Kowalczyk’s addition of a sing-rapped version of "No Scrubs," last summer’s hit from the pop/rap group TLC — was a mind-bending and enjoyable sight that, if nothing else, proved Duritz’s claim that touring with Live is all about fun.

After the lights went up and the crowd heard a mini-speech from the conscientious Duritz — who urged, among other things, concert-goers to register to vote — Live took the Hershey stage for the second time this year; the band first performed in the Arena in February. Kowalczyk, in his traditional Dalai Lama-like get-up, with his bald head and unbuttoned red-Oriental style shirt, entertained the crowd with both hits and favorites, mixing the expected — "Lightning Crashes," "I Alone," and "All Over You," — with the latest — "Run to the Water," and "They Stood Up For Love" — and a song not often performed by the band, "Beauty of Gray" off of their debut album Mental Jewelry.

The band also performed — to the approval of the crowd and following Kowalczyk’s apology to the city’s mayor — Mental Jewelry’s "Shit Towne," a sort of slap in the face ode to small town America inspired by their hometown.

Aware of the fact that they were performing in front of a hometown crowd, both Live and Counting Crows peppered their talk with fitting references — Duritz jokingly asking how many members of the audience went to high school with Live and Kowalczyk musing about the "little dream of making music," that the five members has while living in a "town Southwest" of the venue.

It was good to see the efforts of the dream come true. Live was captivating on stage and the performances of Galactic and Counting Crows were nothing but spectacular.