Live Review: The Black Crowes

The Black Crowes
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA
December 2nd & 4th, 2009

Same Time Next Year

Since regrouping in 2005 and playing a run of shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California, The Black Crowes have made multi-night runs at the historic venue an almost-annual event. True to form, the band capped their tour supporting 2009's Before the Frost...Until the Freeze double album with a five night run at the historic music venue.

HF hit two shows of the 2009 run and witnessed the Black Crowes flexing their musical muscles to produce two musically different shows, both in song selection and overall vibe . Where Wednesday night was a seamless journey through the band's musical wheelhouse, Friday night was a rock'n roll show that left the crowd simultaneously scratching our heads and picking our jaws off the beer-soaked dancefloor of the Fillmore at the amazing music blasting out from the stage .

Opening a cold and windy Wednesday night with the trippy "Movn' On Down the Line", the band allowed the psychedelic opener room to slowly bloom into a celebratory jam. This is the type of song many bands would close a show with and yet we were only one song into the set.

The swirling organ and slide guitar of "Under a Mountain" followed as the band embarked on a guided tour of their songbook: new song "Shady Grove" brought some Midnight Ramble boogie to the evening, while first album classic"Twice as Hard" reminded longtime fans what got them into the band almost 20 years ago. A thoroughly jammed-out cover of Delaney and Bonnie"s "Poor Elijah - Tribute to Johnson", and finally the drifty balladry of "Wyoming and Me"off the previously unreleased Band album

At this point in the evening, the message was clear: this is going to be one of those nights for the faithful fans in attendance.

In this day of AutoTuned vocal performances, sample triggering and outright lip synching, The Black Crowes play their music organically and the result is a performance that is unique to the day, the town, the crowd and the venue they happen to be playing on that given night.

Maybe it was the cozyness of the five show run at the Fillmore. Perhaps it was the culmination of a band being on the road for the majority of the last two years. Whatever it was, the Crowes' relaxed stage presence made the evening feel like we were getting to watch the band's private music jam, only with a cool light show and full service bar.

Their road chops shined brightly on the poly rhythms of "Another Roadside Tragedy" (complete with percussionist Joe Magisttro, who sat in for the entire Fillmore run), a thunderous "Sometimes Salvation" and the one-two punch of "Girl From a Pawnshop" and "She Gave Good Sunflower".

The encore proved just as random with three more covers- Clapton/Bramlett's "Don't Know Why", the Velvet Underground's "Oh Sweet Nuthin" complete with guitarist Rich Robinson taking lead vocals, and finally a proper show-closing with Little Feat's"Willin'", leaving everyone in the Fillmore with a smile on their face.

On to Friday.

As with any weekend show, the crowd was buzzing to have a good time and the band brought the rock'n roll, opening with "Good Morning Captain" off the new album, followed by the haunting feedback of "Nebekenzer" off 1997s Three Snakes and One Charm album. "Cosmic Friend" followed and while not a personal favorite, the crowd enjoyed it.


The pace came to a halt as drummer Steve Gorman made his way to the front of the stage to play some djembe on "Whoa Mule", the country-folk tune that caps 2008's Warpaint album. A bold move by the band no doubt, but I wonder how the drifty understated tune played to the rest of the Friday crowd, who by now were fully boozed up and ready for the weekend.

The pace picked up a bit as the band plucked their way into the country shuffle of "Roll Old Jeremiah" leading into a jam that allowed keyboardist Adam McDougal to play some bar-room piano fills that twisted together with the percussion until the band collectively spun straight into the hallucinatory gospel goodness of rocker "Good Friday". That my friend's, is a segue.

Suddenly, the rock show was back. After an epic 16 minute "My Morning Song" , the Crowes eased up a bit and gave the audience some Exile on Main Street acoustic blues with new song "Shine Along" before absolutely grinding the show to a halt with the country ballad cover "Lost My Drivin' Wheel". While the song was excellent and allowed Chris Robinson to showcase his vocals, the Friday crowd was collectively too drunk to handle this level of subtlety.

At this point, you really didn't know what was coming next. Groove rocker "Blackberry" got things going again, and was followed by the stomping 60's southern soul of Joe Tex's "Show Me" which absolutely left the majority of the crowd looking dazed and confused as they asked their friends just what the fuck they were listening to at this point in the night.

After departing for the far reaches of outer space on the jam following "Nonfiction", the band must have sensed the crowd was now lost in a Friday night wormhole of musical confusion as they attempted to reel everyone back in with fan favorites "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution" and the classic "Remedy".

The encore began slowly, opening with the ballad "The Last Place that Love Lives" off the new album. A frontier western style ballad that showcases Chris Robinson's pipes, the subtlety of the song could have easily been lost on the crowd, but something rare happened: the crowd shut up and actually listened, allowing the song's damaged beauty to shine through.

A booming "God's Got It", complete with drummer Steve Gorman banging away on a marching band drum got the crowd going tribal, followed by Moby Grape's "Hey Grandma"to finish the show.

While the encore was another head-scratching collection of songs, overall the show was fun and the band sounded great. The seamless ease of Wedsnesday's show might have colored our perception of the evening, but part of the fun of a good Black Crowes show is not knowing what's coming next, and we got that both nights in spades.

*Photos used without permission from the Black Crowes fan board. If you would like your photo removed, contact us.

Wednesday Setlist:
Movin' On Down The Line, Under A Mountain, Shady Grove, Twice As Hard, Poor Elijah - Tribute To Johnson (Medley), Wyoming And Me, Wee Who See The Deep > The Raga > Another Roadside Tragedy, You Can All Join In, Girl From A Pawnshop, She Gave Good Sunflower, Sometimes Salvation, Jealous Again, Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)
E: Don't Know Why, Oh! Sweet Nuthin', Willin'

Friday Setlist:
Good Morning Captain, Nebakanezer, Cosmic Friend, Whoa Mule, Roll Old Jeremiah > Jam > Good Friday, My Morning Song, Shine Along, Lost My Drivin' Wheel, Blackberry, Show Me, Nonfiction > Jam, Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution, Remedy
E: Last Place That Love Lives, God's Got It, Hey Grandma

Crowes on Letterman

The Black Crowes played the David Letterman show last night to support the release of their just-released album Before The Frost. The band performed the album's first song "Good Morning Captain".

We're still digging our way through this new long player, but after a few initial spins, things sound good in Crowe-ville. There's even an additional mini-album called After the Freeze that you can download with a code contained in the Before the Frost album.

Enjoy.

Michael Jackson-less Content Below

Alright, we are back after another lengthy dry spell.


Are you as sick of the Michael Jackson coverage as we are? How this guy has been elevated to icon/Godlike status since his death is just baffling. Yes, he made some seminal albums in the 70s/80s and inspired many of today's current crop of musicians, but that was before he decided he hated his face and racial heritage and liked touching little kids (allegedly) That is the first/last time we will even type MJ's name on this blog.

Now that we've got that out of our system, we've got lots to cover: New albums have dropped, a Wilco show at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley was taken in, and rumors of news bands on the horizon. Let's get started with a great quality clip of The Black Crowes playing the Hampton Beach Casino a few weeks ago at the start of their summer tour.



The Crowes have a new album Before the Frost dropping in September. The band has released a new song off the album for free on their website. The song, "I Ain't Hiding" has already divided fans on the various internet message boards, similar to the uproar when My Morning Jacket released the robo-dance inspired "Highly Suspicious" ahead of its Evil Urges album release. Below is the "Misty Mountain Hop" inspired album artwork.

Black Crowes Announce New Album Details

We could type something up about the interesting approach the band took in recording their new album, but we'll be lazy and let The Black Crowes PR machine give you the finer details about their new album Before The Frost, out September 1st.

Put on your marketing goggles:

THE BLACK CROWES ANNOUNCE RELEASE OF NEW CD

AND GIVE FANS A FREE SECOND ALBUM

‘BEFORE THE FROST…UNTIL THE FREEZE’ DUE IN STORES SEPTEMBER 01, 2009

A LIMITED EDITION VINYL AVAILABLE

THE BLACK CROWES will release their new studio CD, Before the Frost... on September 1, 2009.

A second album, titled …Until The Freeze, will be given away for free exclusively through a unique download code which is included in Before The Frost… as a “thank you” to their fans for two decades of continued support.

Before the Frost..., and its corresponding free album …Until The Freeze, were recorded over a series of five nights at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. Although both are studio albums, all the new material was performed and recorded in front of an intimate audience of the band’s fans, making them a part of The Black Crowes musical history.

The innovative technique of inviting fans into the studio as part of the process during recording is a rare experience.

Before the Frost... features eleven new and previously unreleased Black Crowes songs including Good Morning Captain, I Ain’t Hiding, Been a Long Time (Waiting on Love), and other original songs that will serve to spotlight the bands ability to make emotional connections through their music. The free album …Until The Freeze is a nine-song collection featuring eight new original Black Crowes songs plus a cover version of the Stephen Stills classic So Many Times.

A limited edition vinyl release of Before The Frost…Until The Freeze, featuring all 20 tracks, will also be available on September 1, 2009.

Chris Robinson conceived the concept of Before the Frost...Until The Freeze.
“I think we fulfilled a musical commitment to continue on the golden road of artistic independence. Approaching 20 years into our careers, we still are ambitious enough to push ourselves to create something unique that we have never done before.”

As The Black Crowes approach the upcoming 20th anniversary of their release of one of rock’s most influential records, Shake Your Money Maker, which produced such hits as Jealous Again, She Talks To Angels and Hard to Handle, they are time and again hailed as one of Rock and Roll’s best live acts.

Before The Frost… (CD Track Listing)
Good Morning Captain
Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)
Appaloosa
A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound
I Ain’t Hiding
Kept My Soul
What Is Home
Houston Don’t Dream About Me
Make Glad
And The Band Played On
Last Place That Love Lives

…Until The Freeze (Free Download Album Track Listing)
Aimless Peacock
Shady Grove
Garden Gate
Greenhorn
Shine Along
Roll Old Jeremiah
Lady Of Avenue A
So Many Times
Fork In The River

Before the Frost…Until The Freeze was produced by Paul Stacey and will be released through The Black Crowes label, Silver Arrow Records and Megaforce Records.