Gotta love The Black Crowes for still blazing a trail for rock ‘n’ roll.
This year marks 40 since the inception of the Robinson brothers’ band, now fired up for a worthy new “Happiness Bastards” album and 2024 tour that stopped at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Tuesday night (April 16).
“Following decades marked by sex, drugs, fights, breakups, and divorce,” Live Nation’s pre-tour news release trumpeted, singer Chris and guitarist Rich are “leaving their bullshit behind and coming together to celebrate their mutual love for rock n’ roll.”
And rock they did during their first show in Vancouver since 2008, around the time of the band’s last album of original music. Sure, they played Abbotsford Centre in 2022, but that’s not Vancouver. The QE is where I last saw them, way back in 1992, so Tuesday’s show was a sort of homecoming.
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Twice As Hard: @theblackcrowes back in #Vancouver tonight for the first time in more than a decade. pic.twitter.com/sBhZXvpqAc
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) April 17, 2024
AC/DC’s iconic “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)” played on the PA before The Black Crowes hit the stage, which boasted a cool warehouse vibe (curtains pulled back to reveal the back and side walls, cables, ladders, wires etc.). A wall of various amps looked like modern art centred by a huge mirror, ringed with giant lights.
Spotlights focused on the brothers, naturally, with everyone else standing a bit more in the shadows. There were eight musicians on stage, not including the Chuck Berry cutout positioned in front of the two female BG singers, on risers along with the drummer and keyboardist.
At the mic, Chris Robinson shimmied, pranced and grooved while Rich Robinson riffed away on his endless collection of guitars. A different one for the needs of every song? Sure, why not. Crank the volume? Hell yeah.
The 17-song set featured a few from “Happiness Bastards,” including the fine “Wanting and Waiting,” along with a handful of classics (“Remedy,” “She Talks to Angels,” their hit Otis Redding cover “Hard to Handle,” “Twice As Hard” and “Jealous Again”). Not everyone is going to be happy with a band’s chosen songs on a given night; personally, I would have loved to hear “Sting Me” and “Kickin’ My Heart Around.” Oh well, next time.
At times, the band looked a bit disinterested or perhaps tired from a busy weekend of West Coast concerts. Following show-opener Billy Tibbals, The Black Crowes hit the stage at 9 p.m. and waved goodbye at 10:35 — not exactly Springsteen-ish length of performance, but a solid dose of gritty, guitar-fuelled music on a Tuesday night. Later, my right ear rang as my head hit the pillow. Ah well, that’s rock ‘n’ roll.