The Black Crowes Treat Atlanta Fans To Rare Gems & Live Debuts

The Black Crowes returned to Atlanta — the city where the band was formed 40 years ago — last night for the second stop of their Happiness Bastards Tour. Wednesday’s show at the Fox Theatre saw the band dust off a pair of long-lost songs and offer live premieres of two tunes from their new album.

The group led by siblings Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson focused on material off Happiness Bastards, their first new studio album of original songs since 2009. For the second night in a row, The Crowes kicked off the show with the LP’s opening track, “Bedside Manners.” Next came “Dirty Old Sun” from the recently released record followed by the classics “Twice As Hard” and “Gone.”

The first big twist of the setlist arrived after “Gone,” as The Black Crowes broke out “Nebakanezer.” The rollicking cut featured on the band’s 1996 album Three Snakes And One Charm had been shelved since December 13, 2013 according to Setlist.FM statistics. It was then back to Happiness Bastards for “Cross Your Fingers.”

While “Nebakanezer” hadn’t been played in over a decade, The Crowes went deeper in the seven-slot by busting out By Your Side’s “Then She Said My Name.” The Chris and Rich co-written song was last performed all the way back on July 4, 1999.

Happiness Bastards lead single “Wanting And Waiting” followed the rarity before Chris Robinson dedicated “She Talks To Angels” to the late Blackberry Smoke drummer Brit Turner. The Black Crowes then laid into the live debut of “Follow The Moon” and covered The Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat.”

The Black Crowes capped their main set at the Fox the same way they did at the tour opener in Nashville by reeling off a run of staples “Sting Me,” “Thorn In My Pride,” “Jealous Again” and “Remedy.” The band’s sixth and final Happiness Bastards song came in the encore with the live debut of “Kindred Friend.”

Watch fan-shot video from last night’s Black Crowes show below:

The Black Crowes head to Houston for the next stop of tour on Friday. The band will hit venues across North America through May 7. Find all tour dates below.