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I should start by saying that I was pretty excited for this show. I’ve been a pretty big fan of the Black Crowes for years, they put on an amazing show the last time I saw them (in 2005 at the 930 Club in Washington DC), and I’m a total sucker for Stones/Faces swagger and Southern-fried rock. Finally, I was excited to see the phenomenal Luther Dickinson (of North Mississippi All Stars), who took over lead guitar duties last year. In fact, we were so excited about this show that we bought our tickets in June.
I feel a warning is in order before I get started: the following rant is probably going to make me sound even older and grumpier than I actually am. With that said, this was one of the more disappointing shows I’ve been to in years. Unfortunately, bad sound, weak song choices and awful fans made it impossible for my high expectations to be met.
Before getting too negative, I’ll start with the positives. The Black Crowes are a rock band in the truest sense; you can tell that they’re pros. Every part of the experience has clearly been thoughtfully considered — from the immaculate gear to the pre-show burnt-sage blessing to the prototypical backup singers. The band can also play — I was impressed with the tone and execution of every band member. They also clearly live to play music and each member (especially Chris Robinson) pours a lot into their show. Finally, Dickinson didn’t disappoint. He is one of the best living slide players in my opinion, and he shredded through every single break he took and served as a great foil to Rich Robinson, who has always been a much better rhythm guitarist than soloist. (As a side note, it was also cool to see über-hippie Wavy Gravy, watching the show from the balcony above.)
