Boring show keeps Black Crowes grounded
By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun
On the liner notes of The Black Crowes' latest album, By Your Side, lead singer Chris Robinson is listed simply as "Diva."

And while the loose and lanky frontman showed promise in living up to that title early in his band's sold-out show at The Warehouse on Monday night, he ultimately failed the road test.

It's too bad, particularly since Robinson, all hand gestures and shaking hips, had the perfect setting to really give Celine Dion and Diana Ross a run for their money.

The Atlanta band's stage was gloriously bedecked in a silver foil curtain and matching background, and after Tchaikovsky's dramatic 1812 Overture -- complete with cannons going off -- announced the Crowes' arrival, Robinson launched the concert with the group's infectious 1992 hit, Remedy.

Problem was that after the high energy of that song and the one that followed, By Your Side's strongest track, Go Faster, the remaining numbers paled in comparison.

Over the course of two hours, that's a whole lot of dull.

It was as if once Robinson had flung off his Liberace-worthy black-sequined blazer (after the first two songs), so too went a lot of his legendary attitude and stage presence.

This is, after all, a guy known for wearing black eyeliner and boas while singing the hell out of songs with that big, scratchy voice.

The band's material -- derivative, bluesy rockers that have a tendency to sound the same -- didn't help matters.

Nor did the fact that The Black Crowes were only here less than two months ago to play an invite-only show at The Phoenix, and some of that necessary freshness may have been missing for the group.

Certainly the audience, surveyed with a quick tour around the venue, seemed to be having a good time regardless of the lack of riveting action on stage.

And it should be pointed out that Robinson was at least trying (along with drummer Steve Gorman), whether he was beating his chest with his jeweled mic stand or thrusting one arm up into the air and pounding his feet like a flamenco dancer.

The same can't be said of the Crowes' four other bandmates, including Robinson's stone-faced brother Rich on guitar, who got some help in the playing department from touring guitarist Audley Freed, who had the habit of rolling his eyes into the back of his head during his solos.

New bassist Sven Pipien (who replaced original member Johnny Colt) and Toronto-born keyboardist Eddie Harsch were merely adequate.

Songs that did manage to rise above the monotony included the new songs, HorseHead -- a heavier, Zeppelin-like anthem -- Go Tell The Congregation, and the Santana reminiscent Hi-Head Blues.