Black Crowes Still Rockin' After 10 Years
By Brendan Sinclair
Daily Texan Staff
April 5, 1999

Lock up your liquor, hide your Zeppelin collection, and brace yourself for a second-hand buzz. The Black Crowes are rolling through town Thursday, and they're bringing with them all that is right with rock 'n' roll.

Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson are finally getting along and the Black Crowes are once again flying high.
 

Live Music - THE BLACK CROWES

When: Thursday, April 8
Playing at: Austin Music Hall
Opening: Bare Jr.

Long known for their exhaustingly energetic live shows, the Crowes have legitimately earned the moniker, "The Most Rock 'n' Roll Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World." Grinding solos, a nigh-convulsive lead singer and some seriously kick-ass music have become the Crowes' hallmark after a decade of superlative live shows. But this time out the band has taken a different approach to touring.

"The philosophy behind our live shows has changed," explains Crowes drummer Steve Gorman. "Before, it wasn't so much a performance. It was just about the music, about experimenting and improv and taking the music wherever we could," he said. "Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't. Now, though, we just go out there to put on the best damn show we can."

From the look of the tour's set lists so far, the best damn show they can put on is heavy on the hits, offering the cream of each album, but leaving the inspired cover tunes and B-side gems by the wayside. Also absent from the show are the long-winded jams the band became mired in on their Horde and Further festival tours.

True, some fans came for the jams, but as Gorman says, "It's our band. We can do with it [the show] what we want."

"We have five albums," he continues, "and we've been playing for 10 years. On albums alone, that's over 50 songs to choose from. We're at the point where we should be doing our own material on stage."

Gorman is one of three remaining Crowes from the band's original lineup. In the process of making their latest album, By Your Side, the band lost original bassist Johnny Colt and lead guitarist Marc Ford. Their unexplained departures left fans wondering if the Black Crowes were self-destructing, perhaps in an anti-climactic fizzling similar to the demise of Guns 'n' Roses.

While the band managed to pull things together replacing the departed band members, it's still tough to get a straight answer on what happened.

"In a group situation," states Gorman, "if a couple of guys aren't really with it, it affects everyone. What was done had to be done, and this band is better off for it."

Oddly enough, it was the song-writing sibling duo of lead singer Chris Robinson and his younger brother/guitarist Rich Robinson that kept them together throughout the recording of By Your Side.

Infamous for their frequent squabbling, the Robinson brothers were surprisingly well-behaved in the recording of the new album, having finally found a respect for each other's opinions in the songwriting process.

"That's true," adds Gorman. "I write stuff all the time just for me. If I showed it to somebody and they said, 'That's great, but if you change this paragraph here ...' I'd be like, 'Get the fuck out of my way,'" he said. "Chris and Rich have been songwriters and bandmates for years, but never friends. They've changed that now."

Between the band's new lineup, the band's new philosophy on live shows, and the band's new camaraderie, it seems the Crowes are once again flying high.

"Right now," says Gorman, "we're enjoying things and doing what we do best. Everyone's a little older, we're certainly a little wiser, and we've found a balance in the band that hasn't been there in a while."

He adds, "We're just following our instinct and going where it takes us. And right now, our instinct is to go out there every night and put on a loud as hell Rock 'n' Roll show."