The Black Crowes | 12.01 & 12.02 | S.F

Words by: Dennis Cook | Images by: Susan J. Weiand

The Black Crowes :: 12.01.09 :: The Fillmore :: San Francisco, CA

The Black Crowes :: 12.02 :: The Fillmore

Just before the encore commenced on Tuesday, a tipsy blond tough girl grabbed my arm and boozily hissed in my face, “Can you believe this is a Tuesday night?” Her wonderfully matted hair and flush face, strawberry red from hard dancing and hard liquor, showed that at least for her the weekend had come early. Then the lights fell as The Black Crowes retook the stage, and she gave a little glam rock kick and hooted, “Fuckin-a-a-a-a!” before disappearing with an ass wiggle and a wink that came off more crazy than flirty.

The Crowes bring out this wild, immediate exuberance in folks, and the group is rarely more relaxed and engaged than when they swing it at The Fillmore, which has become a real clubhouse for them in the past few years. 2009 marks their third long stand at the venue, following a five-night run in August 2005 and six nights in December last year. One really feels the timelessness of The Black Crowes’ music inside The Fillmore, where they would have fit in fine on a bill with Big Brother and the Holding Company and Rahsaan Roland Kirk in 1968 but slot in just fine with today’s headliners like My Morning Jacket, Son Volt and The Tragically Hip.

However, unlike many others to hit this stage in recent years, the Crowes hum with all the ancient tributaries that have fed the best bands to ever play The Fillmore, tapping into the ground water of the blues, soul, country and rock to create a noise that vibrates on a heavier, deeper frequency than most. In its very nature, Black Crowes Music is all about the richness of commingled good ideas wrapped up in songwriting and playing that could simply be no one else. Put that together with The Fillmore’s own strange frequencies and you’ve got something swell.

Chris Robinson :: 12.02

Tuesday began rough ‘n’ funky with well paired openers “Make Glad” from 2009’s Before The Frost… After The Freeze (JamBase review) and the P-Funk-ish “(Only) Halfway To Everywhere,” which was stretched into a smooth ‘n’ sour jam full of psychedelic prowess and a strangely unifying chant of, “Everything is everything and nowhere is nothing.” A patiently built, highly salacious reading of “Greasy Grass River,” a real showpiece for guitarist Luther Dickinson (who once again showed himself to be game and able on whatever came up – rare, well known or otherwise), was next, followed by a fairly rearranged “Could I’ve Been So Blind,” which took the tempo down a couple notches from the studio version and added a thumping, nasty 12-bar blues interlude full of harmonica that really turned the original on its ear.

From this point forward the show had the flow of a really great album, where the power numbers were balanced with moments of real beauty, which the Crowes have shown increasing facility at generating in the past year or so. And just when things teetered on verge of being too subdued they swept into something livelier, as if sensing the room’s mood and responding in real time. Thus, the tear-in-your-beer double whammy of “Fork In The River” joined to Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country” lead into the growling discontent of “P.25 London” and the hop-out-of-the-pews propulsion of “Go Tell The Congregation.” This pattern repeated nicely throughout, and as the show went on their collective confidence grew, allowing them to pull off the incongruous but perfectly executed transition from an ethereal, heart tickling cover of Fred Neil’s “The Dolphins” into a lengthy, unpredictable “Black Moon Jam” and the heavy-as-a-star “Black Moon Creeping” it culminated in. It was bold choices like this that spoke loudly of the band’s wide range and comfort with one another in traversing such seemingly impassable divides.

The Black Crowes :: 12.02 :: The Fillmore

After reinvigorated runs through early chestnuts “Thick ‘n’ Thin” and “Hard To Handle,” both given nice, subtle twists by Dickinson and keyboardist Adam MacDougall, the main set hit a satisfying conclusion with Warpaint‘s “Wounded Bird,” which has proven one of the strongest new cuts in years, a wide-winged cry to rise despite how damaged or demoralized one might be. The song’s mood fit the Crowes particularly well this night, which found them a touch road weary and rough around the edges but still elegant and forceful in a very rock ‘n’ roll way. With a nine-person strong lineup onstage for this run, it’s a huge sound that’s as confident and together as they’ve ever been, with killer percussionist Joe Magistro – who played on Before The Flood… and has been joining them on select dates this past year – adding quiet, perfect touches that never overwhelmed yet always elevated the music. All this instrumental and vocal force coalesced on “Wounded Bird,” whose lyric, “The waiting is over/ So let’s roll in the clover/ It’s time for a head full of stars,” resonated strongly with many in the crowd who’ve been waiting impatiently for another extended stay at The Fillmore.

The encore might not have been what whiskey chick had hoped for, turning down the volume and really sinking into a wistful, lovely piano sprinkled “There’s Gold In Them Hills,” followed by shuffling, cozy covers of Dylan’s “Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn” – with Rich Robinson on lead vocals – and traditional by way of Ry Cooder “Boomer’s Story” that brought the really cool ride to a swaying stop.

The Black Crowes :: 12.01.09 :: The Fillmore :: San Francisco, CA
Make Glad, (Only) Halfway To Everywhere, Greasy Grass River, Could I’ve Been So Blind > Jam, Fork In The River > Girl From The North Country, P.25 London, Go Tell The Congregation, Take Off From The Future > Jam > Thorn In My Pride, The Dolphins > Black Moon Jam > Black Moon Creeping, Thick N’ Thin, Hard To Handle, Wounded Bird
E: There’s Gold In Them Hills, Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn), Boomer’s Story

Continue reading for the review of Wednesday night’s show…

The Black Crowes :: 12.02.09 :: The Fillmore :: San Francisco, CA

The Black Crowes :: 12.02 :: The Fillmore

As with past Fillmore stands, the Wednesday show turned out to be special. With a day off before the weekend shows coming Thursday and all their gear settled in, the band and crew had every element dialed in, and the boys looked better rested and lightly spit-shined when they launched with “Movin’ On Down The Line.” No journey that begins with this drop-the-past-and-embrace-tomorrow anthem is likely to go anywhere but upward in a big way, and the thoughtful setlist construction, empathetic playing and naked emotional tenor made for a wonderful encapsulation of the Crowes at their very best.

It almost seems too cliché to compare a night like this to church, but a baptismal energy washed over Wednesday’s proceedings, a visceral reminder of what music delivered with great skill and great heart can be. Sure, it is just a “rock show,” as ever-stunning frontman Chris Robinson remarked, but when the blood of the thing begins to flow both ways, audience and performers sharing the same circulation, it can be considerably more.

An early in the set “Twice As Hard” was belted out with real conviction, the lingering youthful bile in Chris’ voice matched by the band’s collective ferocity, but it was the new songs and deep catalogue tracks that shone most brightly on Wednesday. The playful ragtime accents on “Shady Grove” were a kick, as was the Lowell George vibe peeking through on “Under A Mountain” and “Another Roadside Tragedy.” Main set closer “Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)” was a kick ass reminder that the Crowes are still writing and playing at the top of their game in 2009. However, of the originals in the main set, the seldom played “Wyoming And Me” may have rung most poignantly, it’s chorus a radio hit that never was since tender balladry isn’t welcome on the airwaves much anymore:

Luther Dickinson :: 12.02 :: The Fillmore

You’re beautiful but you’re flawed
You’re desperate but you’re strong
You’re lonely but never alone
You’re empty, like Wyoming and me

By turns, the Crowes were trippy and tender, knockout tough and watery smooth. Each tune neatly found its way to the next because all felt part of some larger cloth. The real care they put into sequencing, catalogue mining, and cover selection is apparent. And like Tuesday, just as the ache of a slow burn like “Girl From A Pawnship” really sunk in, they’d veer into the warmth and sauciness of “She Gave Good Sunflower.” They know what they’re doing, pros in so many regards, and if one sets aside too much wishing for this or that tune and opens up to what they’re crafting piece by piece onstage they may see the wisdom of the band’s choices more clearly. That I can still be surprised (and usually delighted) by their setlists after 105 shows says a great deal about the possibilities of their broad catalog, which keeps adding new Chris and Rich Robinson tunes all the time as well as inspired cover picks like Traffic’s “You Can All Join In” and Delaney & Bonnie’s “Poor Elijah – Tribute To Johnson.”

Rich Robinson :: 12.02 :: The Fillmore

Again, too, the encore took what was already a very satisfying experience and raised it to a sublime one with three note-perfect covers. Starting with Eric Clapton’s “Don’t Know Why,” given a fabulous ’60s R&B wash, the encore kept the audience rapt, each successive tune bringing people a little closer to one another and perhaps the musicians onstage, too. There was no rush for the exits, no post-main set malaise. They’d saved some of their most powerful playing for the end, especially an extraordinary version of The Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’,” which Rich sang the heart out of while the others danced with the snaking, seemingly never ending melody. After that, Little Feat’s “Willin'” came across a bit like “And We Bid You Goodnight” at a Grateful Dead show or “This Land Is Your Land” at a folk gig – a bright circle drawn around the present moment that one can sing along to.

From cosmic cries to weary love songs to crushing rockers (“Sometimes Salvation,” the quintessential Crowes song, was particularly heavy duty), The Black Crowes ran the gamut on Wednesday. One stumbled out feeling full and happy, confident that the weekend will continue what is shaping up to be perhaps the Crowes finest Fillmore run yet.

The Black Crowes :: 12.02.09 :: The Fillmore :: San Francisco, CA
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’

Continue reading for more of Susan Weiand’s pics from Wednesday…

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