Back in 1990, the Black Crowes ‘Shake Your Moneymaker’ was an out of the box success to rank with other classic debut albums out of America, from Montrose, Van Halen, Boston and Guns’n’Roses. It was an album out of its time as the hungry young Georgians took inspiration from the analogue sounds of early seventies southern rock and soul and the raunch of the Faces and Stones; and one I loved then and still return to regularly. Over time I have also realised its historic significance as the band seem second only to Led Zeppelin when young acts are interviewed in the classic rock press and asked to cite their musical influences.

However my relationship with the Crowes since has been a more ambivalent one. As they moved in broader and less commercial directions, and dare I say under the influence of various substances, I became disinclined to see live shows featuring lengthy jams and wilfully obscure setlists. Not long after I saw a patchy performance supporting Bruce Springsteen, their chequered history and indeed the Robinson Brothers stormy relationship came to an end in 2015.

However, shortly before the pandemic came the exciting news they had reformed again and alongside a deluxe reissue of that debut album were going to play the album in full on an Autumn 2020 tour including two nights at Brixton Academy. That was much more my scene and I rushed to buy a ticket for the first night: luckily after two postponements, two years later the band had kept on the straight and narrow and were still a going concern.

There was another flashback to the nineties with a support slot from Reef. Operating between heavy rock and Britpop I will be honest and say I detested them at the time, the rough hewn vocals and stage moves of Gary Stringer in particular. And yet in a balanced set which covered all phases of their career including their recent reunion, there were certainly highlights. The riff of ‘Naked’ still has a great groove to it and ‘Place Your Hands’ is earworm and as quintessentially nineties as the New Lad and Cool Britannia.

They are now expanded to a five piece with two guitarists, and hippyish bassist Jack Bessant the only other survivor. Gary’s vocals are now even raspier than ever and at various stages called to mind Dan McCafferty or Brian Johnson. By the time of a surprisingly good cover of ‘The Chain’ and another of those catchy nineties songs in ‘Yer Old’, I can’t say I was converted but I enjoyed an entertaining set a hell of a lot more than expected.

After a slow start the Academy was packed full and an expectant crowd watched an elaborate stage set done up like an old-school southern bar. The first arrivals on stage were some patrons including a man who put a dime in a vintage jukebox to pick out, naturally, Elmore James’ ‘Shake your Moneymaker’. The patrons left (though the bartender stayed all night) and the Black Crowes came on, there being something thrilling about hearing Rich Robinson strike the opening chords to ‘Twice As Hard’ before his brother Chris sauntered on, bizarrely singing the first song carrying a band-branded brolly.

Loose of limb as ever, but with hair and beard having had a tidy trim, he reminded me in his prominent profile of the young Pete Townshend, and he sang really well throughout. However one brief moment when they shared a mike stand aside, there was little chemistry between he and his brother, the latter looking even more taciturn than usual, to put it kindly.

‘Jealous Again’ had a lovely southern feel with that classic seventies Stones or Faces mix of Rich’s slashing chords, barroom piano and female backing vocals, although the tone was set that second guitarist Isaiah Mitchell- at the far side of the stage, and looking the part in long hair under a cowboy hat- would play the longer and more involved, and typically closing, solos. Both ‘Sister Luck’, with both guitarists lending it a country rock feel, and ‘Seeing Things’ were gorgeous slow songs given scope to breathe, either side of the Stonesy raunch of ‘Could I’ve Been So Blind’.

After an introductory dedication to Otis Redding, ‘Hard to Handle’ got the best response of the night yet with outbreaks of grooving around me, then ‘Thick’n’Thin’ was fast and furious before in complete contrast, an elegant ‘She Talks to Angels’ with Rich this time on acoustic guitar. They completed the album segment in exact running order with two of the less heralded songs: ‘Strutting Blues’ was another with that classic seventies Stones feel, and on ‘Stare it Cold’ the way all the musicians hit a seamless groove was something to admire.

The fact the show was now 55 minutes in showed they had judged things about right, keeping things relatively concise and sticking fairly faithfully to the originals but allowing room for just a little improvisation. The latter was give fuller rein as they moved onto the rest of their catalogue, or to be more precise ‘The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion’. ‘No Speak No Slave’ was unexpectedly intense, like a heavier Zeppelin, then those jamming tendencies you either love or hate were let loose on a sprawling ‘Thorn In My Pride’, Chris adding harmonica, as was their love of vintage covers with ‘Papa Was a Rolling Stone’.

However the trio of songs that came next were almost as much a highlight as the first album showcase, beginning with the country rock sounds of ‘Wiser Time’ with harmony vocals from the two brothers, then a breathtaking guitar passage worthy of the Allman Brothers when the two guitarists played a superb winding solo each before combining in harmony.

Then as ‘Sting Me’ and of course ‘Remedy’ were greeted with a sense of excitement, the prominent female backing vocals only adding to the loose grooves that got people moving, life could not get any better at that stage, and I was wondering whether to try and repeat the experience the next night. However the night ended with the slight anti-climax of a single perfunctory encore, in a cover of an old gospel song ‘God’s Got It’ delivered in boogie style.

The two year plus wait had been more than worth it. This felt like a different Black Crowes- a thoroughly professional show with their more rambling excesses reined in. While I did hear the odd gripe from fans of their more spontaneous, trippier vibes, this return to the music that made them famous was easily my most satisfying Crowes show yet.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)