The Black Crowes @ House Of Blues
Submitted by eggs on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 01:40.
Houston's House Of Blues is still relatively young as compared to our city's other venues, but it has fast become one of my favorite rooms to see live music in. The sound is fantastic, lighting the same. However you want to take in the show – whether it be from the floor, the raised seating area behind the soundboard, or the extremely large balcony looming over head – shows there just are a bit better than the rest. While they aren't perfect – a strictly enforced curfew has literally cut off groups like Mos Def and George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, and the ridiculously priced drinks always makes you feel a bit lousy the next morning when you check your wallet – it usually calls for a good time.
Words & Photos by Jim "Eggs" Bricker
Houston's House Of Blues is still relatively young as compared to our city's other venues, but it has fast become one of my favorite rooms to see live music in. The sound is fantastic, lighting the same. However you want to take in the show – whether it be from the floor, the raised seating area behind the soundboard, or the extremely large balcony looming over head – shows there just are a bit better than the rest. While they aren't perfect – a strictly enforced curfew has literally cut off groups like Mos Def and George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, and the ridiculously priced drinks always makes you feel a bit lousy the next morning when you check your wallet – it usually calls for a good time.
My most recent trip to the HOB involved a vast majority of the our fair city's cougar club, and no, I'm not talking about anything affiliated with the University of Houston. Everywhere I looked, there were a group of 40-somethings, dolled up to a tee in their animal prints and skin-tight jeans, ready to rock out to the Southern stylings of road-stalwarts, The Black Crowes. What was even more ridiculous, were the groups of equally-aged men hawking these women. It was like a motorcycle rally, only instead of a bunch of mustachioed, leather-clad bald guys on Harley-Davidson's, it was the blue jean and matching shirt, Honda Goldwing cross-country type of bikers. Great people watching.
Read more about the show after the jump
I arrived a bit early, thinking the Crowes were the only band performing, but when I walked inside, I was welcomed by the country-rock of Truth & Salvage, Co. I only witnessed about five full songs, but I really started to dig them towards the end. They had a sound that was southern-rock-meets-indie-rock, with a bit of The Grateful Dead thrown in for good measure. At times I heard Band of Horses, at other times they sounded like the Drive By Truckers. Either way was fine by me. As they were an opener, and not really cut out for such a large room, they were a bit ignored and at times talked over, but still managed to get at least the crowded floor into it before the end of the set. I'm still yet to dig deeper into T&S, Co.'s music, but I'm sure I'll find some time to in the near future.
The time in between sets had me reflecting on who exactly was attending this concert. U2 sold out Reliant Stadium the same night as this show, but the Crowes had no problem packing HOB. That's a pretty impressive feet when we're talking about the biggest band in the world as your competition. Were these the rebellious teens back in the 70's that only listened to Zeppelin, and got caught smoking in the boys room? Were these the ones still rocking Aerosmith in the 80's rather than picking up their fresh copies of The Joshua Tree? I bet the 90's saw them pretty much abandon music all together, besides a random few bands, one in particular being The Black Crowes.
Soon the advertisement screen ascended as the house lights were switched off. The Black Crowes came to the stage with almost sullen looks upon their faces, as if they were not too excited to be in attendance that evening. That didn't stop the booze-filled fans, though, as rabid cheers came from all around the room. The smell of rye whiskey was sweet through the air as the anxious crowd pushed up as close as they could get to Chris Robinson's crotch. I was busy jumping the barrier so I could get into the photo pit that was flanked on either end by two massive sub-woofers, which were apparently necessary for a venue the size of HOB. After kicking at least one drink on the way over, I found myself in the pit as they were into their trademark, Southern-influenced set of standard rock songs. I was as unimpressed as ever.
I don't mean to hate on The Black Crowes, but after seeing them four times, I can truly and officially say they bore the living hell out of me. For one thing, every song they play sounds eerily similar to the song before and after. The two hits they played – "Jealous Again" and "Soul Singing" – were welcome, but the set mostly consisted of tracks from their recent LP. I understand throwing a few of the new tunes in, but you have to mix it up with more than just a handful of songs that your casual fans came to hear. Also, don't just come to stage and work through the motions. It's really uninspiring to watch a band that doesn't look like they're having any fun doing what they're doing. The only one that seemed to be enjoying himself was the newest addition to the band, North Mississippi Allstars' Luther Dickinson. Towards the end of the show, I found myself predominantly focusing on his work rather than that of Rich or Chris Robinson. As the crowd slowly dwindled, I decided to head out myself, leaving with nothing but a pounding headache as I made my way home.
I'm rarely negative about bands that I cover on Breakfast On Tour, but this is definitely the last time I'll be partaking in a Black Crowes show. Thankfully Truth & Salvage, Co. were there to bring somewhat of a shining light to the night. If you were there, and have a differing opinion of the show, I'd love to hear it. But for now, I'm sticking with the simple fact that I'm completely and utterly done with them.
I did get some photographs, though...
Words & Photos by Jim "Eggs" Bricker
Black Crowes review
Hey Eggs
Always enjoy the review. Sorry you didn't like the show. I am admittedly a huge Black Crowes fan, and had a different opinion--as I thought they rocked. BUT, they definitely played 8-9 songs of the new album (which I was very familiar with prior to the show--which definitely enhanced my enjoyment of said show). Anyhoo, one of my buddies wrote some of his comments, which are interesting, so I thought I would share. Cool.
From friends review:
So last night, a Houston contingent of seven went to witness the Black Crowes perform live. Where should I begin?
Setting the stage
It was at the House of Blues. I spoke with the security coordinator briefly who told me there were 1600+ people there. We thought it looked and felt sold out, though there were open seats up on the balcony. Beer was either 6, 7, or 10 dollars each (10 for a 24 oz).
Since there were seven of us, the writing was on the wall. I would have to cut some dead weight. So after attempting to make space in the front for all of us, I just went to the middle and continuously weaseled my way closer to the front of the stage. In the end, I'd say I was probably around the 7th row right in the center.
Gear for the audiophiles
Those dudes trade out guitars WAY too much. I mean all of them. Luther plays a number different Gibson SGs. Why? I have no clue. But he has a dark brown one, a light brown one, a red one ... he also plays through a nice Fuchs rig if you're into that sort of thing. Sven Pippien plays two basses a Richenbocker and a Fender. I think it's a P/precision and not a Jazz. Chris Robinson played a couple of different guitars. Rich. Man, Rich plays a zillion guitars. I think he had a different guitar for each song. His main rig is a Vox head and half cab. But he also has this rack thing happening next to it.
Pre-show observation
Luther has a little night light for his set list. I thought that was pretty funny.
Song selection
This isn't a greatest hits tour. And they're not just living off the past. The only "old school" songs they played were Bring On, Bring On; High Head Blues; Soul Singing; Jealous Again. They also covered Hot Burrito #2, much to Doug's delight. A majority of the songs were from the new album, which unfortunately I don't have yet. But Doug gave me a good preview of it before the show. And he did a good job of calling the songs they'd play off of it. They played the first three songs off the album, the third of which being an acoustic (or at least half-acoustic) song. They also played one I call "Black Dis-Crowes" because it's totally straight out of 1979. Doug seems to think it's a rocker and swears the crowd was all dancing to it. But I think it's pretty cheesy. Doug also called them playing some song who's chorus includes the phrase, "I don't dream about Houston and Houston don't dream about me." They played a surprising number of acoustic (or half-acoustic) songs much to our collective delight. Some in our party really enjoyed Garden Gate. My favorite was one Doug called Old Jeremiah or something like that. I remember it had the phrase "And the Band Played On" repeated a number of times. It started out acoustic. Then morphed into a keyboard solo, during which Luther switched from a mandolin to an SG and a slide. When the keyboard solo faded, Luther just started WAILING ... during which time Rich switched from his cheesy Western-looking acoustic to a hollowbody electric guitar. Luther passed the baton over to Rich and he went off for a while. It was pretty awesome.
The Luther effect
As opposed to the last time I saw them play, this time Luther really sounded and appeared comfortable. Last year, I would say it was like Luther playing with The Black Crowes. This time it was The Black Crowes and Luther's one of them. Know what I mean? Like North Mississippi All Star music is bluesy, but it's kinda happy, poppy blues. The Black Crowes are more soulful rockin' blues. And this show he was very well integrated with their sound, whereas a year ago I would say he stood out with his distinct sound typical of his other work. I think he's actually a real nice addition to the team. He brings legitimacy to the new songs and new albums. Last week, Doug was talking about fondly remembering a Black Crowes show from a couple of years ago when they were touring with Marc Ford and Eddie Harsch. It was incredible. They pulled out all the old favorites. But now with Luther in the fold, it's like "these are the songs we wrote with Luther. They're new. They're awesome. We're gonna share them with you." They're not just living in the past. They're going forward, and I credit Luther with a lot of that passion to continue doing and playing new things. Oh. The other crazy thing. I didn't even notice that Luther didn't have a mic in front of him until about 2/3 the way through the set. Isn't that odd?
What else
I got to witness a chick beat up a dude (then get temporarily escorted out ... she came back though). I heard some guy with absolutely no game trying to hook up. I saw some chick on the side of the stage trying to ruin people's camera videos by shining her flashlight directly into them. It was kinda funny. But also a total asshole move.
Enough with the words. I'm attaching photos now. Just of the band. I didn't think to take pics of the fight until it was too late.
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