It was with no small amount of trepidation that I set off to the Enmore on this Sunday night. I mean, the Black Crowes, playing their killer debut album in full? What’s not to love, right?! The brothers who mad an art form out of fraternal bickering (well before two numpties from Manchester were squabbling over the last Rusk in the playpen), concluding that their respective solo endeavours were no longer fruitful, and deciding to saddle up the old band (well… the ones that hadn’t sued them) and have a run through their most loved (and best selling) album.
It IS a killer album though, indeed one that I knew inside & out, having it as a staple in the old Honda as I traipsed to & from many a gig back in the day. Holding it such high regard, I was not keen to see it trotted out with any degree of half-assery.
Before the main event however, we get Full Flower Moon Band. Starting out with a cool Bass riff intro, which segues into the trippy Jam of ‘Highway’, spitting chunks of AC/DC’s Long way to the top into the mix. More groovy, grungy, trippy tunes ensue, veering heartily through Veruca Salt Territory, although the harmony effect is a little muted when the effects on the singers vocals stay on, she sounds like a robot when speaking to the crowd. The Drummer & Guitarist inparticular keep things charging along though, allowing the singer Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon, to keep doing her thing. I have to say that the song New York to LA is a highlight, and would have been a great finish rather than the low key solo number that they ended with.
By now the sold out Enmore theatre is pretty much heaving, (as is the stage, there seems to be more amps on stage than Jim Marshall’s garage sale), and as soon as James Brown’s Sex Machine into rolls, I smell the unmistakable aroma of someone indulging in their own herbal remedy to kick proceedings off. The set, as advertised, runs through Shake Your Money Maker top to tail. Twice as Hard’s unforgettable intro brings out the band, looking a little greyer & beardier, but remarkably spry. Chris Robinson, dressed all in Black, having lost none of that fantastic voice, is shimmying all over the stage. It’sstraight into Jealous Again, it must be said that the Enmore is a great venue for this band, and any doubts that I had about this performance are quickly evaporating as the band is delivering this album with a LOT of punch! Sister Luck, and Could I’ve Been So Blind come & go in a flash, before we get Seeing Things, Chris’s favourite night to sing this one is Sunday (“…Its Sunday Right?”), and it feels like church, with the organ & the backing singers given full reign.
Praise now, and thanks to “the greatest Soul Singer ever, the Big O, Otis Redding from Macon Georgia” Hard to Handle, then Thick & Thin, and a transcendent She Talks to Angels, before finishing off the album set with a Hammond drenched Struttin’ Blues, and Stare it cold.
Despite my previous misgivings, the band delivered this album like a finely tuned machine, with the kick of a 1000lb Mule, and it was amazing to have the chance to get to see them play it top to bottom.
After a short respite, we get a fearsome No Speak, No Slave from Southern Harmony, By Your Side from err… By Your Side and a fantastically atmospheric Wiser Time from Amorica, and a highlight “This was Born on a rainy day…” Thorn in My Pride, before finishing off with the inevitable Remedy.
Sometimes things really DO end up as good as they seem, and this night was certainly one of those times, it was a gift to have witnessed it!
Photos by Adam Sivewright || Review by Biggs
The Black Crowes
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Full Flower Moon Band
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