The evening started out well enough, albeit with the sun still up and the sticky heat still blazing as Jealous Again, Soul Singing and Hotel Illness teamed up to get the show off and running. It was during the fourth offering of the night though when things took a little turn. Too many people don't realize that the energy driving the music is fueled by the vibe the crowd gives back to the people on stage. The band has eyes. They can see what's going on in the crowd...and during the quieter acoustic numbers, they can hear what's going pretty well too. Tonight in Charleston what the crowd gave back to the band was loud voices talking to neighbors and into cell phones, and it kept getting louder and louder and louder during Chris' quiet opening to The Last Place That Love Lives. After a couple of minutes, he stopped the song and gave everyone the business...
“Hey, am I keeping you guys from something? Well remember this...when you run your mouth, other people want to hear the music”
- Chris Robinson - September 10, 2010
Now, sometimes a Chris Robinson scolding can turn a show sour for a few minutes. Sometimes they're met with laughter and amusement but if the vibe gets too heavy he usually remedies the situation pretty quick with a couple of jokes and then it's all good and back to business. This time the song stoppage seemed to have a little more of an effect on the band than it did the crowd. While it wasn't the first time he's undressed a crowd and certainly not the last, everyone did quiet down to their own benefit but we sensed that the happy vibes coming off the stage during the first three songs had evaporated and you could feel that mood linger for a few minutes.
And then, for the people he wasn't talking to, he introduced the second* acoustic Wee Who See The Deep anybody's ever seen performed live. It was also the first time any form of the song had seen the light of day in 2010. Wee Who See The Deep was written acoustically so the transition back from the Warpaint version was seamless. In the acoustic set, we'd love to see it jammed out a little and cross a bridge into Thorn, Nonfiction or maybe even a Morning Song. The possibilities are almost endless. What followed was another first - the long overdue acoustic Time Will Tell - 18 years overdue in fact. If you were to take that long returning a library book you might be arrested and thrown in federal prison. Since it was recorded in Atlanta at Southern Tracks Studios in January of '92, there has been no acoustic version of Time Will Tell ever played live. It was played several times during the 2001 tour but those were all full-on plugged in versions and even though they sounded great, acoustic is where it's at for Time Will Tell. Perhaps this is the song people are searching for when they ponder what might be the last song played at the Fillmore on December 19, 2010. A switch from piano to organ for Adam's parts might be the only consideration next time out as it's hard to find anything to nitpick about this one. All we ask is...play it more please.
After a Ballad > Wiser cross country run, Wyoming and Me drifted in for the second time this tour and continued to mellow everyone out until My Morning Song had asses shaking in the aisles again. The gospel tambourine breakdown is batting 1.000 so far this year and is the overwhelming MVP candidate of the acoustic sets. Some Crowes fans prefer their Morning Song to be old school, loud and electric while others like the new one. The coolest kids in school like both. One thing is for sure, the acoustic Morning Song gets the crowd going every time. Never fails. She Talks To Angels followed and it was set break time.
The Blackberry that opened the electric set included an expanded jam that had clearly been arranged and worked out ahead of time. There was no harp like the old days but there was a Gorman/Magistro drums and percussion work out that dropped into a funky guitar line by Rich that reminded us of the High Head Blues intro jam from the Hooked or Bycrooked Tour of the Summer of '96. A lot of Rich's riffs are incestuous and bred from cousins of cousins of cousins who marry and bear offspring that end up mating and having three headed babies with inverted kneecaps and cleft palates. Only in the freaky Black Crowes world of weirdos and misfits are these things acceptable. With Rich laying down the foundation of funk, Luther soloed for a couple of minutes as the whole thing stretched out, built up and segued back into the chorus of Blackberry. It may need a little work but it was cool.
With I Ain't Hiding and Ozone Mama continuing the dance fest the fourth song of the electric set came in the form of Descending, otherwise known as a so-called hot topic of debate among Crowes fans. Adam's outro, which some enjoy and others criticize, didn't have the upbeat Elton John-esque flavor he's brought to it before but it did showcase his syncopated style of stopping and starting in spots before finding its way back to the ending. As it trailed off into the distance it pulled up the blinds and let Thorn's Progress come in through the window...and with a couple of really great build ups and breakdowns led by Steve and Rich locked in on the assault, everyone followed their lead as they pulled off into another Spider in the Sugar Bowl Blues detour that inspired Chris to step up to the mic and recite a couple of lines. We think he might have forgotten a line or two and took creative liberty to alter things a little, which is beyond reproach considering he wrote the damn thing...instead of “Has no knives, only spoons” we got “The magic in the silver spoon” and instead of “A sweet tooth for a new cocoon” we think what we got was “The mystery in powder blue” but we're not real sure. Doesn't really matter - point being, the expansion of Spider in the Sugar Bowl continues as the tour moves forward, hopefully leading up to what is starting to seem like an inevitable full on stand-alone version that would mark the first complete band performance since July 31, 1997. We think it's coming. We hope it's coming. Only time will tell.
"The first really good Fender I bought was a black Tele Deluxe from the ’70s. And then I bought a ’68 blond Tele and that’s been my main guitar ever since. I paid 400 bucks for it."
- Rich Robinson
After some waves and thank yous the brothers and sisters of the lowcountry were sent on their way off into the South Carolina night air. Some wanted more music and some were just relieved to finally have permission to talk on their cell phone. As everyone walked out the exits toward their cars to head where ever they were going - perhaps for a post-show Waffle House run - another two set show was in the books as the band prepared to motivate south towards Atlanta to be inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on Saturday. Next show: Sunday night at the Ryman in Nashville. *Thanks to Brain Damage for the correction!
