The Black Crowes - The Joint, Las Vegas, 5.11.01 Reviews by chiefcrowe@theblackcrowes.com The Joint is a great venue for a show since it is small, similar to the House of Blues. This was my first show in about 2 years so it was very exciting for me, and the vibe of the venue is really great also. Oasis played a good show, but I'm not a big fan and I liked a few of the songs, that is all. The Crowes stage setup was pretty basic, nothing fancy, except they setup a white rug for Chris and lighted incense. Reggae music was piped over the PA system as they were setting up, and then right before there was some kind of African tribal music. The feeling before the show was almost overwhelming, it is really exciting, and went they busted into Midnight, we just went crazy. The intimate atmosphere was amazing since we were so close, and you can make eye contact with the band and they hear you singing along. Chris was wearing a light blue, long sleeve shirt, blue jeans and was barefoot. He also had some necklaces and rings on and one pendant which was orange. Rich had on a yellowish jacket and pants and Audley had a nice black cowboy type shirt with some white near the shoulders. The rest of the guys were a bit more nondescript and it was harder to see Ed and Steve clearly since they were near the back. Chris also really moved around a lot, taking the mic off the stand many times and did many of his classic dance moves. It was great and made us want to boogie. I hadn't ever seen him that energetic on stage, he would go up to Rich and Audley and even get them to move! The backup soul singers were also a great addition, even though it was a bit hard to hear them at times. The new songs sound even better live, and ones I didn't like as much are better now for me after seeing them performed live. Greasy Grass River featured a great lead by Audley, which I was happy about, since I feel like he was really underrepresented on Lions. Sting Me really got the crowd going, since the album just came out and people don't really know the new material too well. Of course Twice as Hard was well received and I saw a lot of people singing along. The ending was nice since the last riff was extended. I'm always happy to hear songs sounding a lot different live than on the album. Lickin' is much better live, and it took a while to grow on me. Rich was in the spotlight on this one, with all the lights turning red. I had never seen anyone use the pickup switches to get that sound, which was cool to see. He also added some other flourishes in the space to make it better, but unfortunately Audley didn't get to play much on this one. Cursed Diamond was definitely the highlight of the night! Chris looked happy after singing it and the vocals were soulful. Audley had some great slide parts on it and also there was some sweet piano on it! I was happy to see that a lot of people knew that song around us, it was just amazing! I even yelled out Thank You afterward. Soul Singing featured Rich's metal guitar, it seemed like a hollowbody Dobro, but I'm not sure. Everyone seemed the most receptive to this one, and I hope they do a video for it and promote it a lot. The intro is great, and it sounds very good with the backup singers, and just makes you feel like jumping up and down and singing. My Morning Song was also amazing, and I am always happy to hear it since it is my favorite song. The middle section was slowed down and quiet as Chris motioned to the band to slow down the tempo. They started doing a psychedelic jam which reminded me a bit of Dazed and Confused and Chris kept chanting "I'm falling down." with echo effects. It was awesome to hear a new jam and it just took me away when I heard it. Young Man had a cool funky intro, which Audley played, and they jammed a bit on it. I also loved the sound when Chris called out "SUN STARS EARTH, MOON SKY TIDES," since it had a very full sound with the echo effects. The end also had a nice solo by Audley that wasn't on the album. He is really into it when he plays since I could see his eyes rolling back when he played some intense parts. Chris' vocals sounded great and he hit all the notes and the band was 100% on that night. The drums were also excellent on this one; Steve is a very good drummer and he pours himself into the performance every time! Cosmic Friend is also better live, exciting to hear all the weird effects on it. Chris even did the baby's cry at the end!! The encore had a rockin' version of Remedy and Ed was going off on the keyboards. I never get tired of hearing that one! Another real surprise was Oh Well, with Chris on the shakers! Noel Gallagher joined the band on this one and he did a solo and Audley just tore it up on his solo. Chris was happy to see us singing along I think. They did a fantastic job, and I cannot wait until they start doing longer sets on their own tour. This was the best vibe I got from them in a few years and I think that they are forging ahead once again into new territory. The Black Crowes - Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, 5.12.01 After waking up early and driving all the way from Vegas to Santa Barbara, we were ready for this one even though it was a little tiring to go through all of that. We met up with a lot of fans before the show including a friend of mine who I didn't even know was going to be there but was on the street team. They were giving away pins and stickers and cards for Lions. I saw Chris leave the tour bus but he didn't stay to chat with anyone because it was before the show, and he got into a car and left. This venue is probably one of the best I've ever been to, since it is outdoors, near the ocean and surrounded by trees. Where we were sitting, in the center behind the soundboard, we had a good view and the sound was really good, nothing was drowned out unlike in Vegas where it was for some parts. This show had a quite different setlist, which is always nice to see, and there was a real JAM vibe to it! Midnight is a great opener, which they will probably use for this whole tour, but then they followed with Come On. It would be nice to switch it up a little though. I love the riffs in this song, its another good one to get the crowd going. Chris wore a similar outfit, except with a purple tie-dye shirt with a picture of a Moon on it. No Speak was real heavy and Chris really got into this one and screamed like a man possessed. This one has a real intensity when they play it live and it had a nice solo by Audley. In the end jam, Chris yelled out NO SPEAK NO SLAVE!! Jealous Again was familiar so everyone was dancing for that one. There was a big Crowes fan behind us who was grooving along to all of the songs. Ballad was beautiful, and his voice really shone on it plus the band really jammed on this one and extended it out longer than I expected and then transitioned to Wiser Time. There were some great drums on this song, and the cowbell was noticeable and the keyboards were beautiful as usual. Chris and Rich harmonized too and then the dual guitar solo with slide took us to new heights!! I noticed that Andy got into the groove well and he is a great player, seems pretty comfortable with the band already. Those two are just amazing, it is really hard to describe the song in words. Soul Singing was great of course and then Rich goes into this fast riff which is Thorn's Progress, a very short version which then segues into Thorn in my Pride. This song was probably the highlight of the show, because it had a great drum solo by Steve Gorman in it! This one also had a tight jam, which left us in awe. Audley and Rich played together real well on the jams, Audley rips it up when given the chance! The next two songs, Young man and Cosmic Friend were great too, and a little different than Vegas, they were a bit shorter. The encore was a new song for me, Lucifer Sam. It sounded a bit like the Batman theme song, but it was great to hear something new. They even jammed with Noel Gallagher. I think that is what a good rock n' roll show should have, some jamming with the different bands. Once again, Chris had the energy and was jumping and dancing around the stage which was inspiring to see!! They left the stage with a huge applause and Chris had his arm around Noel's shoulder. The shows are always fun but really special when you have fellow fans to share it with and to hang out with. The Black Crowes - The Greek Theater, Los Angeles, 5.14.01 After waking up early and driving down to LA from Santa Barbara, we made it to the Hollywood Rockwalk in front of Guitar Center on Sunset Blvd at about 11:30 am and it was warm and sunny as we waited for the ceremony to start. The Greatest Hits blasted out of the PA system as they prepared for the handprint ceremony. Jim Ladd from KLOS (a big supporter) was the MC and he had a lot of good comments about the band. The ceremony was short but Chris spoke and thanked us for sticking by them. Don Was introduced them and had a lot of good things to say about the band, complimenting Chris' lyrics and songwriting and also mentioning that Rich is a better bass player than he will ever be. He looked sort of like a hippy with dreadlocks and a cowboy hat and sunglasses on. They posed for a lot of pictures, including one with Noel Gallagher. After we got to the show, we hung out with some other fans and spotted Ed by the bus, and he was nice to us and took a couple of pictures and chatted for a bit. Chris also came out but didn't stop to talk to anyone. I guess its better to wait out after a show to meet the band, since they don't have the pressure. One of the best parts of going to a show is meeting all the fans there and hanging out to share the music. Chris wore a dark shirt with a big picture of a hand on it along with jeans. Audley wore a red shirt with white on the shoulders and collar and Rich wore a cool looking silver shirt, which was a bit shiny. Near the beginning he mentioned that you can tell the people in the front are rich because you could smell the good weed!! They like this venue a lot and mentioned their first time there was 10 years ago!! The show was pretty good, but the vibe wasn't as good as the others, so it wasn't as good overall. Also, the setlist was pretty similar to one before, but the band still rocked! Midnight is evolving with more guitar fills, and the band seems to be gelling better together. Miracle to Me was amazing to hear live, with great vocals and Audley playing a white acoustic guitar. The sound on this song was great and I could hear the acoustic guitar pretty well too. The way he sang it was really emotional and you could tell he was really into it! For me that was the highlight of the show. The rest of the songs were as good as they were at the other shows. Morning Song was even better than in Vegas, with more jamming and more emotion and they extended it even longer too! Chris even started to sing to the background singers and they did a kind of extended duet. It seemed over too soon, and then they pulled out a surprise in the encore, By Your Side. This was nice to hear and both Audley and Rich got good solos on it. Remedy was great but even better because Chris added some adlibbed lyrics, a short little "remedy rap" in there! The last song featured Jen Gunderman (Audley's wife) on background vocals in a pink shirt and some others including Gem and Noel from Oasis. To Love Somebody was a great tune, sounded very much like Gram Parsons and I was really happy to hear it since it was new to me. Chris sang this one very well too, it gave a great energy for the end of the show. He closed with a thank you and see you tomorrow! The Black Crowes - The Greek Theater, Los Angeles, 5.15.01 This was the last night in LA, and I knew it would be a killer show! We sat in the middle of the first section, about 15 rows back, with a perfect view and great sound! Chris wore a black long sleeve shirt and a necklace with a ball on it, and his hair was in pigtails! Rich had on a black shiny shirt and Audley had a red/orange shirt on that shined in the light. They started heavy on Midnight and didn't let loose for a good stretch! Stare it Cold was intense and had some great guitar work by Audley and Chris was wailing away on it. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, they started the Black Moon intro and it just went off! The backup singers were wonderful and this was what I was hoping for. Chris was dancing all over the place and it looked like they had something to prove. This song was just funky and had some great little jams in it! This is a signature Crowes tune to me and it just smokes when they play it live! Chris even got close to Audley and Rich to get them more into it and I saw Rich even dancing a bit! Audley showed off some great guitar hero arm gestures too!! Cypress Tree was amazing, and unexpected. I love the way Chris sings this one and it came off really well live! The intro was played on electric but it still sounded pretty sweet; I think its one of the best new songs and should be played more often. Then came a solid version of Lickin, so the first 5 songs set the tone for a real drivin' show!! I liked how Rich thew his slide back to the tech after his solo without missing a beat. After this the pace was slowed down with a melancholy and heart-wrenching version of Cursed Diamond, which was wonderful! He sang it almost like the album, complete with the scream of pain at the end. Audley also did the sweet slide guitar part at the end of it very well. Soul Singing again got things going and the crowd loved this one. I think if they promote this one right, with a video, etc, it will be the biggest single from this album! Its very uplifting hearing the backup singers on there too! Ballad and Wiser were great as usual, and very good jamming going on as Rich and Audley came together in the front to play some dueling leads. He introduced the song as from an album that they did a few years ago called Amorica (presumably to make more people aware of it). If you didn't believe in them, I think that you would change your mind if you saw that. I also found it strange that he didn't do any band introductions considering they had a new member! Young Man and Cosmic Friend were great too but I think they should mix those around in the set a bit more and also jam more on Young Man! But its great that Audley adds another solo to it. I think that he should do that more often actually since he didn't get much of a chance on the album. The encore was a surprise, they pulled out the piano for Lay it All On Me. Rich played keys and was announced too. Don Was took over bass duties, while Ed was playing the organ parts and on the side Audley played a dark wood acoustic guitar. Audley is quite good on the acoustic actually, I saw him picking and heard it pretty clearly. It came out really well actually except for the awkward moment where Rich and Audley had to switch guitars. The vocals were very good and rich. It was bittersweet because I knew the show was almost over and I had such a great time meeting everyone and travelling around. The last song was a cover with Oasis called I Dig Love, and it was new so I loved hearing it for the first time. Even though it is a pretty simple tune, the Crowes did a great job with it. Chris ended by thanking us and said that "We'll see you next time!" It was great to see them going off stage after hugging the guys from Oasis, which summed up the whole tour perfectly. I think they are back to being one of the best live rock n' roll bands around and I hope to see them again in the fall!