You can never go back, right? Someone said that, and I should have paid attention.
I saw the Black Crowes play a supremely awesome show back in high school, in support of the Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. It was in that old Quonset hut of the City Coliseum. Kind of a dump, but I saw a ton of very good shows there, from Smashing Pumpkins to Pearl Jam to Soundgarden to the Chilis. The thing that I remember most about that show was the opening song. In darkness, they started the rad, swampy, slow-build opening of "No Speak No Slave," and when the dual guitar attack kicks in after about 20 seconds, the lights on stage fired on like the surface of the sun, the speakers went to 11, and every nerve ending in my body climaxed at once. For real - how many concert moments do you remember after 30 years? That one literally just gave me goosebumps again while remembering it. So freaking awesome. I also recall that afterwards me and my friends claimed to have gotten contact high from all the people around us and decided we just HAD to stop at Taco Cabana to quell our munchies. High school kids are so dumb.
Wait, I just found a video that kind of shows like what I remember. It wasn't exactly like this, but close enough for you to get the feeling. Hell yeah.
Anyway, now that the brothers Robinson have made up and decided to tour again, I wanted to go see them do their thing again. And as an added bonus, the show would involve them performing Shake Your Money Maker from start to finish. And that album flipping rules. I wore that thing out once I discovered it - sister Sharon gave me a tape of it that she had ripped off of her CD - and I was pumped to see those songs live again.
The crowd was a little odd to me. Lot's of biker-looking dudes and kind of metal-esque folks. Like, everyone was just desperate for music to happen again, and they didn't care that they were about to see a stoner Southern rock band who sometimes turns their live shows into jam. Odd, but whatever.
The show was fun - but I have to say they were sloppy. And I've said it before and will say it again - I don't expect note to note perfection out of a live show, but at the same time I want it to be in the same neighborhood. A song was good and popular and beloved because of how it sounded on the record. If you change the tempo and the words and leave out the guitar solo, then you are just not playing the same song. Songs Inspired by Shake Your Money Maker. It wasn't terrible, but just a lot of missed notes and guitar solos that sounded nothing like the original. And if I didn't know every word, there is no way that I understood anything Chris sang. If someone was hearing those songs for the first time, they'd think "Twice as Hard" was called Wiiiiyiiiiyiii Suppart!
And, after they had finished the Shake Your Money Maker run, they actually went into "No Speak No Slave," and I was PUMPED that they'd recreate that moment I remember from the mid-90's. Instead, the tempo was too fast, they just skipped some of the cool sounds from the intro (like the little shaker!), and when the song kicked in no lights did anything. Sad trombone.
Enough with the whining - in the end, it was supremely fun to hear these songs again. Because of the track order of the album, they opened with two of their biggest songs ever, which was weird, but also very cool. I thought it was especially cool to hear some of the underappreciated tracks like "Thick n' Thin," "Struttin' Blues," and "Stare it Cold." Those songs still BURN IT DOWN.
Fun show, and glad to get back out there for live music again.
No comments:
Post a Comment