The Pageant - St. Louis, Missouri - 8.27.10

Well folks here's the show of the tour so far.  Pretty much unanimous from coast to coast.  Where to begin?  We'll start with the decision to prohibit cameras, even those on cell phones, from being used during the show.  We've been telling you the crackdown was coming, and here it came.  They were on it Wednesday night in Indy too.  Draw your own conclusions as to why.  

We like Annie Zaleski's take on the subject in her RFT blog:

My take on the ban? Fantastic. Good job, Black Crowes. It's about time more groups did this.  People are too busy documenting the experience for posterity to actually enjoy -- or heck, even have -- the experience.

And there you go.  Leave your cameras at home, leave your phones in the car, go inside, have a good time and get into the music.  It'll be ok.  We promise.

Before the show, a group of less than 100 fans were treated to a short soundcheck party for pre-ordering a copy of Croweology through local St. Louis record store Vintage Vinyl and got to hear a couple of songs run through just for them: Fork in the River and Oh Sister.  Wait, Oh Sister?  Are you kidding?  Gosh, I wonder if they might actually play it at the show...oh nevermind, you already know.

Now just because everyone else is touting this one as the "show of the year" and people are describing it by using words like "nice," "wow" and "holy fucking shit" - that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone was dialed in to what they were seeing - and tonight the ones who weren't dialed in were more than happy to chat loudly with their neighbor about a variety of subjects including the bad haircut they just got that day, jerk boyfriends who lie and cheat and oh my God did you hear Jennifer is pregnant?  Seriously, who are these people that pay money to come to a concert and run their mouths?  People were babbling their faces off throughout the acoustic set and finally after Thunderstorm 6:54pm Chris had had enough.  After that things were different, but let's back up a little. 

We only found one complaint in the comment box for this show, courtesy of Gail and Ron Anderson, who run Anderson Hardware out in Waukegan, Illinois:

Soul Singing as the opener, again?  Seriously??

Obviously you can't please 'em all.  There were, however, many that were pleased to see the first Oh Sister since Bruce Hornsby grabbed an accordian and sat in on July 6, 1997 on the Further Tour in Saratoga Springs, New York.  Oh Sister resides in rarefied air and belongs to an exclusive club of cover songs played by the band less than ten times in Black Crowes history.  It is without question a special treat of Chris and Rich harmony any time it gets played.  This one had no harp like versions in the past but it benefited greatly from Luther's tasteful and restrained mandolin playing.  Other unexpected offerings included Fork in the River making its 2010 full band debut and Sister Luck also seeing its acoustic debut better late than never.  Downtown Money Waster had its usual jam on the end and Ballad > Wiser once again challenged the accuracy of the term "acoustic" but nobody seemed to mind and as far as we know there were no grievances filed for misrepresentation or false advertising.  It was the Oh Sister > Good Friday > What Is Home >Thunderstorm portion of the set that seemed to be when all the chatter began getting louder and louder until the Robinson smackdown was laid.  People got the message, and My Morning Gospel Tambourine Hallelujah Song was the turning point.  

Feeling Alright, one of everybody's favorite covers, kicked off the second set in fine fashion.  Rich's rhythm had an extra crunch to it, Steve was so deep in the pocket he needed a GPS to get out and Chris was just flat out feeling it.  This might not be your Three Snakes or your Amorica or Bust or even your Late Show with David Letterman Feeling Alright, but a good song is a good song is a good song, and Feeling Alright is a bona fide wimbo sheshe.  They jammed this one out to the 8:30 mark, which may or may not be the longest version ever, and damn it feels good to hear them play it. 

Jealous Again was but a bridge to the next two surprises coming around the bend.  The first A Conspiracy of the tour came slunking in like a fashionably late party guest that nobody thought was coming and the crowd greeted it with a cheer.  Mona and Charity's vocals were strong. Was it perfect?  No, but what in the world is these days?  Sure, a lot of people probably thought of Ed when the organ break came, and that's natural.  But it got mellow when Luther came in over Adam and the song went someplace else for a few seconds, reminding you that this lineup is going to play these songs their way, and whether you like it or not, it feels fresh.  As for what came next, well...

Do you know how many times Exit has been played live?  Thirty-eight.  Do you know how many of those 38 were played between 1992 and 1995?  Thirty-six.  Bristow, Virginia saw the last Exit of the 90s played on August 25, 1995 on the Horde Tour until it was reinstated 13 years later and shocked the house as a show opener at the Fillmore on December 18, 2008.  Friday in St. Louis, it was played for only the second time since 1995.  That folks, is a rare treat.  Exit is kind of like Bigfoot.  You meet people that claim to have seen one but you aren't quite sure if you believe them.  Here are documented sightings from May 24, 1995 in San Diego and another one from August 26, 1992 at the Beacon in NYC.  Needless to say, the band could have played Spandau Ballet's greatest hits after this and a lot of people would have left happy. 

Next was an 8-minute Thorn's Progress with an expanded Spider in the Sugar Bowl Blues piece that was too long to be considered a tease and may even warrant being documented as Thorn's Progress > Spider in the Sugar Bowl Blues instrumental > Thorn In My Pride, somewhat similar but not identical to October 2, 1996.  The drums portion of the Thorn jam hearkened back to the Trujillo/Gorman percussion paddle steamers of 1995, with Joe doing some fine work getting in where he fit in.  Again, if you're not appreciating Joe Magistro's contributions to the band's sound on this tour you are out to lunch my friend.  Steve did his thing for a few minutes and Joe rolled in on the congas before grabbing some sticks of his own as they both turned the corner and wound down.  The harp jam came creeping out like a low rider with tinted windows then downshifted and picked up the pace before Luther's slide greased the wheels and took it home.

Next came A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound, and if you think that's a long song title, the gap between this show and the last time it was played is even longer.  If any song came out a little flat tonight, it might have been this one.  A sober sounding High Head Blues wandered in next and someone asked if Luther owns a wah wah.  One of the best covers the band has ever done, Oh Sweet Nuthin, followed and for the next ten and a half minutes nothing really mattered but the music coming from the stage and the people swaying to it in the crowd.  When Rich takes his solo in the second half of this song it reaches its peak and reminds you how good his sound really is.  Nobody sounds like Rich Robinson.   

Coming out for the encore was a slightly shaky Move It On Down The Line, or Movin' On Down The Line - whichever you prefer - which has been on the shelf since the Fillmore in December '09.  Boomer's Story closed out an outstanding evening of music with Steve riding the cymbals like the sounds of a railroad crossing.  All is well in Crowe Nation after shows like this. 

Here are a few pics (courtesy of the Riverfront Times - yes they had permission) along with an RFT review and some thoughts from the people... 

As good as it looks it sounded better. When I heard the intro to exit, I might have peed myself a little.

Another...

I was there. It's true, it really was that good. The energy from the band, particularly during the second set, was really amazing.  I usually don't get super excited about the rarities, but I must say, "Exit" was badass. I thought the whole second set was great. I was even excited during Jealous Again. It was more uptempo that usual, and the crowd was really into it. Chris sounds really great right now too. If I never see this band again, I saw them go out on top.

Another... 

They blew the doors off!!!!!!!!!  

Random anecdote... 

During Oh Sister an annoying waitress showed up at my table and started screaming at everyone taking and giving orders.

This man sounds pleased...

Overall, a phenomenol show. The band is having a really really good time on stage, and the crowd feeds off of it. The sound was good and Chris' vocals were way up, very easy to hear him. Great venue, great band, great show.

An observation on the new policy...   

The ban on cell phones was weird but nice not to see a bunch being held up in the air.

And another happy guy with a small bone to pick...

That was hands down the best BC show I've seen minus all the a-holes who talked through the entire acoustic set. The ass clowns behind me apparently didn't hear Chris's "public announcement" because they just kept talking. I paid my hard earned money to hear my favorite band, not to hear some morons discuss their favorite Greatefull Dead album among other things.

FYI - Cocktails at The Pageant were running $8 and we think the beers were $6 but we didn't have any so we can't confirm.  Interesting note:  You can also bring food into the venue if you would like to enjoy a veggie burrito or perhaps an eggplant parmesan sandwich before the show, which is nice.