The Black Crowes Dust Off Compelling ‘Space Captain’ Cover In Sydney

The Black Crowes brought their current world tour to Sydney, Australia last night for their first of two shows at Enmore Theatre. Frontman Chris Robinson led the group through the Joe Cocker-popularized “Space Captain” as their lone encore on Sunday.

Penned by Matthew Moore, “Space Captain” was a staple of Joe Cocker’s legendary Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour in 1970. A live version came out on the Mad Dogs & Englishmen live album later that year. The Black Crowes first covered “Space Captain” on June 10, 1992 in Tokyo, Japan as per CrowesBase.com. The song was in regular rotation for the remainder of the year and again from 2005 through the band’s 2013 breakup. Last night saw The Crowes perform “Space Captain” for the first time since November 16, 2013.

Watch fan-shot footage of Sunday’s “Space Captain” below:

The Black Crowes opened the evening, as they have nearly every show since reuniting in 2019, by performing their 1990 debut album, Shake Your Money Maker in its entirety. After running through “Stare It Cold” to finish the LP portion of the night, the band looked to 1992’s The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion for “No Speak No Slave.” The Crowes then played the title track from their 1999 LP, By Your Side, and Amorica gem “Wiser Time.” A pairing of The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion standouts “Thorn In My Pride” and “Remedy” concluded the main set before The Black Crowes treated fans to the “Space Captain” encore.