The Black Crowes - Wolverhampton Review

Given the number of gigs that I have been to over the years, it is relatively rare these days that I see a headline act whom I have not seen live before. I usually cross a few key names off the list each year though, and 2024 is no different. I will be seeing AC/DC later in the year, a band I never thought I would get to see, but this past weekend I saw another band live for the first time - when the Atlanta-based act The Black Crowes returned to the UK as part of their latest European tour. I have been a fan of the band in some capacity for over a decade, but it is only really in recent years that I have become a much bigger fan. My appreciation of jammier music has increased in recent years, which has meant that my love of the band's rootsy, expansive, southern rock sound has expanded beyond their hookier anthems - and I have spent quite a bit of time with the band's studio and live albums recently. I was supposed to see the band in 2020, as part of their 30th anniversary celebrations for Shake Your Money Maker, but the tour was postponed due to the pandemic and by the time the shows eventually rolled around the gig I was supposed to be going to was no more and none of the other dates really made sense with work and other commitments in mind. Missing out on gigs in 2020 and 2021 is something many can relate to, though, but given that The Black Crowes reunited in 2019 ahead of the much-postponed tour I hoped that their third era was not to be a one-off anniversary tour. So far, though, it seems that the band are in it again for the long haul. The famously tempestuous relationship between brothers frontman Chris Robinson and guitarist Rich Robinson appears to have been patched up - and with a largely new line-up in tow behind them they have been busy on the road since 2022, and even found time to record the excellent Happiness Bastards (which I reviewed here) which came out back in March. The band's latest European tour was announced back in January and I bought tickets for the Wolverhampton show as soon as they went on sale. Despite the expensive price, which was quite a bit more than their peers tend to charge given that The Black Crowes have never been a stadium band, I really wanted to experience the loose and raw rockers live. Bands like The Black Crowes tend to really come alive on stage - and I always enjoy a trip to Wolverhampton to see bands live. I last visited the city in March, so I was happy to return again so soon - especially chalking up another visit the Civic Hall so soon after my first. Clearly quite a few others were also excited by the prospect of seeing the band live, too, as the large room was pretty packed throughout. It is great that Wolverhampton has become a real gigging destination again over the past few years - with the re-opening of the Civic Hall after many years last year a bit statement of intent for the city. I am sure I will visit the venue again many times over the coming years - but I think a band will have to do well to top The Black Crowes as far as experiences at the venue go.

Before The Black Crowes' set, though, the growing crowd was treated to half an hour or so of chaotic and raucous music from the Jim Jones All Stars. I was not familiar with Jones prior to his band's set on Saturday, but he seems to have been a feature on the British rock scene since at least the mid-1980s - with the Jim Jones All Stars being his latest venture. It is hard to describe the band's sound, but something akin to the 1970s British pub rock scene dialled up to eleven with a horn section does somewhat do it justice. From frontman Jones' gravelly vocals, through punky basslines and barroom piano, to the soulful blasts from the horn section - the band never really stayed in one place for too long. As such, I am not really sure what to make of their set - and it was quite hard to take it all in really, especially given that so much happened within a short space of time. Some of the songs played were pretty good, especially those which were up-tempo, heavy on the piano, and featured plenty of saxophone. I cannot say that I really warmed to Jones as a singer, though. His voice was very rough-sounding - so much so that during the heavier sections he sounded almost as if he was just growling away incomprehensibly. He was not always that high in the mix, which did not help, but it would be lying to say that his voice was easy on the ear. I am not a big fan of the rawest end of 1960s garage rock for the same reason, and there was certainly plenty of that in Jones' sound, but I think the pub rock descriptor is more apt - given the slightly soul and blues influences present thanks to the horns and piano. Despite not really warming to Jones, though, it is certainly true that his set entertained. I was constantly left wondering what was about to come next. It was a fun set in that regard, then, but I cannot see myself listening to Jones' music in my own time. Whilst a few around me near the front did seem familiar with this work, I would imagine that many others in the crowd felt similar to me. The reception his set received was warm but not exactly rapturous - so I imagine there was quite a bit of confusion in the venue during the half an hour of chaos which was the Jim Jones All Stars' set.

Half an hour later it was time for The Black Crowes - and when the lights went down the place went wild and the band trooped on stage. Augmented by two backing singers, the six-piece band did not really stand on ceremony - kicking things off with the opening two songs from Happiness Bastards. Bedside Manners got the set off to a blinding start and it was clear from the off that the crowd was in for a treat. The sound mix was generally very good and Chris was in excellent voice - and he was the ultimate frontman throughout the show, throwing plenty of rockstar poses as the set went on. Whilst the focus was of course on the Robinson brothers, everyone else on stage played their part, too. Nico Bereciartua (guitar/vocals) was an excellent foil to Rich, handling many of the busier solos with ease, whilst the funky playing of long-time bassist Sven Pipien held everything together. I would have liked Erik Deutsch's keyboards to have been a bit higher in the mix, but generally the levels were excellent - and the set proceeded at a fair click, with little of the band's famed jamming. The set was a pretty tight one, then, with over half of the new album played and plenty of old favourites. The new songs were welcomed as warmly as most of the classics, but the old favourite Twice as Hard did receive a strong reception early on - before a relative deep cut in HorseHead upped the overall heaviness and saw Rich lock into a strong groove via a big guitar riff. Despite the large and receptive crowd, though, there were a few in attendance who had little respect for those around them - and two incidents actually brought comments from the band. Two ladies pushed their way next to me a few songs in and then proceeded to get in an argument with those they displaced and later someone else threw a record on the stage which hit Rich - much to his understood annoyance. The crowd did not crown themselves in glory, then, but thankfully the band handled the upsets professionally - and just rocked on, with the snappy Cross Your Fingers and the delicate ballad Wilted Rose showing the variety on the latest album. There were some excellent bluesy moments, too. A rollocking version of Bo Diddley's Road Runner upped the rawness levels, before the old favourite Thorn in My Pride was dragged out with plenty of soloing from the two guitarist. It was the only song in the set that was stretched out in such a way, so it felt like a real centrepiece moment - although two hits from the early days in Hard to Handle and She Talks to Angels likely received the biggest receptions of the night. There was plenty of singing from the crowd during both and they seemed to banish the harsh words previously had for individuals in the crowd, which was good, and the last third of so of the set was full of energy thanks to the barrelling southern rock boogie of Jealous Again and the creeping, melodic set-closer Remedy. This one-two punch was an excellent way to end the main set - but the band did not hide back stage for long and came back for one more. They opted for some more blues in the form of God's God It which they covered on the Warpaint album - and the strutting retro vibe was a great way to close out a set which and generally been hard rocking and high energy. The setlist was:

Bedside Manners

Rats and Clowns

Twice as Hard

HorseHead

Stare It Cold

Cross Your Fingers

Wilted Rose

Road Runner [Bo Diddley cover]

Thorn in My Pride

Wanting and Waiting

Hard to Handle [Otis Redding cover]

She Talks to Angels

Bleed It Dry

No Speak No Slave

Jealous Again

Remedy

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God's Got It [Rev. Charlie Jackson cover]

After missing out previously, it was great to finally get to see The Black Crowes live. I expected to enjoy the show, but I think that the set was much more powerful than I had really expected - and the band were much heavier live than even their live albums suggest. Perhaps the more streamlined approach to the songs' arrangements aided this, but either way the band really gave it their all - and the large Wolverhampton crowd certainly left the venue having enjoyed a great evening of live music.