By Jeff Kollath

Nostalgia is one hell of a word. It basically means a “yearning for the past,” which in and of itself can be an unpleasant. Things are never what they used to be, and nostalgia pretty much assumes that the past was better than today. When it comes to bands, however, nostalgia can be a very good thing – a moneymaker. One hit wonders, classic rock stalwarts, and hair metal bands can all have lengthy careers, playing the county and state fair circuits. Some even book weeklong Caribbean cruises so fans can have access to the bass player from Styx.

One band unfairly stuck flush in the middle of a nostalgia trip is the Black Crowes. Breaking big at the height of the hair metal early 90s, the Black Crowes were a band with a metal look, but a Rolling Stones sound – brash, Southern, raucous, but with a soul sensibility vacant in the hedonistic music of their contemporaries. “Hard to Handle” and “She Talks to Angels” were EVERYWHERE in 1990-91; “Remedy” was EVERYWHERE in 1992-93. They had videos on MTV; they had controversy that kept them in the press (getting kicked off the ZZ Top tour, for example); and they had the sibling rivalry that provided the creative fire. Now, some twenty years later, they still are out on the road playing the three songs mentioned above, but also doing so much more that gets swept under the rug. Therein lies the conundrum for the Black Crowes.

Sunday night in Columbus, the Black Crowes burned down the LC Pavilion. A two-set, three-hour journey from the early days to the present and all points in the between, the band stretched beyond anyplace I’ve ever seen them go before. Billed as their twentieth anniversary, “farewell tour,” the band is doing a mix of two-hour, one-set shows and three-hour, two-set shows, with an acoustic set paying homage to their new record, Croweology. While the record is a bit of a disappointment (mainly a rework of their most popular tracks), the acoustic treatment is great live, with old songs like “Jealous Again” and “My Morning Song” finding a new energy. The acoustic set also gives the band a chance to explore the quieter regions of its catalog, as downbeat tracks like the heart-wrenching “Wyoming and Me” and Dillard and Clark’s obscure “Polly” were perfect outdoor Sunday evening listening. The interplay between guitarists Rich Robinson and Luther Dickinson was a sight/sound to behold. It was entertaining to keep track of the number of guitars each used – at one point, Robinson had used FIVE different guitars on FOUR songs! The final six songs of the electric set were perhaps the best single hour of music I’ve seen the Crowes perform in the fifteen odd years I’ve been seeing them live. After a countrified version of the Velvet Underground’s “Oh, Sweet Nuthin,” the band played “How Much For Your Wings” and “Bring On, Bring On,” both of which the band stretched far beyond their original five-minute length and built towards the pinnacle of the set, “Thorn In My Pride.” Another old warhorse, the band has taken this song and made it the freeform centerpiece of nearly every show they play it. The track showcases the band’s true improvisational prowess, and how far the band has come in the past two decades.

Does this sound like nostalgia act to you? It sure doesn’t to me, but therein lies the aforementioned Black Crowes Conundrum. Here is a band that is currently playing better than it ever has with the best personnel it has ever had. Chris Robinson’s voice is as good as it was twenty years, and in some ways, maturity (both the aged and spiritual kind) has made it better. He and his brother Rich continue to crank out excellent songs, surpassing much of what they did in the late 90s/early 00s. While some long for former lead guitarist Marc Ford, current guitarist Dickinson has added so much to the band, bringing a diversity of sounds and techniques to the band that Ford simply could not. Not only have the Black Crowes added some of the country blues sensibilities of Dickinson’s North Mississippi All Stars, but his ability to play soul, R&B, and funk, pushed the Robinsons to write “I Ain’t Hiding,” a splendid dance-rock track from last year’s “Before the Frost…” and to bring the soulful “Ozone Mama” out of retirement. This is a band that is now PUSHING itself, but they still cannot escape their early, overplayed hits. The regular show ended without “Hard to Handle” or “Remedy,” but the encore gave us both, with the Crowes throwing the masses the nugget of nostalgia that so many desired. It was a fitting end for a show on the “farewell tour,” but for me, it left me a little cold knowing what else the band has in its repertoire.

Acoustic Set: Welcome to the Goodtimes / Jealous Again / Ballad in Urgency / Wiser Time / Garden Gate / Polly / Cold Boy Smile / Downtown Money Waster / Wyoming and Me / My Morning Song
Electric Set: Blackberry / I Ain’t Hiding / Ozone Mama / Oh Sweet Nuthin’ / How Much For Your Wings? / Bring On, Bring On / Thorn’s Progress > Thorn In My Pride / (Only) Halfway to Everywhere
Encore: Hard to Handle / Remedy

Discuss: Have you seen the Black Crowes on this tour? Drop a comment and let us know what you’ve thought of the shows!

Buy: The Black Crowes – Croweology