Eagle River Pavilion - Eagle, Idaho - 9.2.10

The Black Crowes

Eagle River Pavilion

Eagle, Idaho

September 2, 2010

Good Morning Captain

Sting Me

Walk Believer Walk

Another Roadside Tragedy

Wiser Time

How Much For Your Wings

Bring On Bring On             

Greasy Grass River

Soul Singing

Oh Sweet Nuthin'

Hard To Handle

Jealous Again

- encore -

She Talks To Angels

Don't Do It

As Treasure Valley's newest concert venue, the Eagle River Pavilion is currently going through its inaugural concert season.  Having just opened in June with a debut show courtesy of Crosby, Stills and Nash, the outdoor venue has some residents who live across the river concerned about noise.  Wonder how this show grabbed them?  The whole thing has been an organic process in getting off the ground, with county commissioners having recently voted to approve a whole slate of summer concerts on the 24 acres of land that were originally zoned for residential development. 

Nearby Boise is an absolutely beautiful city in a beautiful setting with gorgeous scenery everywhere you look.  They have a pretty good college football team too, even if that jerk Nick Saban bags on them in the press.  If you've never been to Boise, put it on your travel list next time you plan on hitting the road.  In fact, make the entire Northwest your destination.  Just gas up, head in that general direction and thank us later.  Speaking of gassing up, a handful of folks who missed out on the show in Missoula drove the 400 miles (depending on your route) to catch this one - and if they hadn't already bought tickets, their unused stubs from the night before were honored to get them in the door. 

On to the show...Truth and Salvage was on hand with dry gear to warm the crowd and then it was time to get down.  After being played at what seemed like a constant clip last year, Good Morning Captain has been given something of a breather so far in 2010.  It's only seen the light of day three times.  Tonight it opened the show, followed by the reliable two-spot resident Sting Me, and things were off to a fine start.  There is no song that has ever been played in the two slot more than Sting Me.  It's not even close.  And even though you may think you've seen them play it live one too many times; the fact is the damn thing still brings it.  One of the most overlooked and underrated aspects of Sting Me has always been Gorman's drumming.  Same for Hotel Illness.  Neither song would be what it is without him.  Personally we prefer to see both songs appear later in sets, but those surprise 9th inning Sting Mes and Hotel Illnesses are rare these days.

So what about Walk Believer Walk?  Have you seen it live lately?  Probably not, because this was only the second time anyone has seen it this year.  Before that, the last time anyone saw it was at Higher Ground in Vermont last year.  Walk Believer Walk is arguably the dirtiest blues the band has ever written.  With Luther on stage we'd love to see some of the old blues covers return...B.B.'s Woke Up This Morning, Muddy's Champagne and Reefer, Sonny Boy's Sloppy Drunk, or if you want to dig really deep into the song bag, Jimmy Reed's It's a Sin.  They haven't played that one in 19 years.  And how big would the grin on your face be if they busted out Statesboro Blues?  Hopefully as the tour moves forward we'll see one of these pop up out of nowhere.

Another Roadside Tragedy came rolling in next, and if there's a song that takes us back to the summer of 1997, this is it.  Luther has always sounded great on this one, clear back to the first time we ever saw him play it at Park West on the Warpaint front-to-back tour of 2008.  It's one of those tunes that really fits his style and when they play it with him it's like watching Wilder Valderrama in a roomful of hot women.  He just knows how to handle himself. 

Wiser Time followed with the always welcome How Much For Your Wings > Bring On freak turn trailing behind.  Early on with this lineup, How Much For Your Wings didn't seem to find that dark place it used to take you, and while it may never get as far out there as it did during the Europe '97 tour, it's still capable of making you look under your bed.  This was only the fifth time this lineup has played it live.  The jam that bridges these two songs together goes from ominous to hopeful, and it's transitions like this that illustrate how many different moods the band can call on at any given moment.  And to think these two songs were on the same record...

Greasy Grass River was appropriately played for the second time this year, and would have been even more appropriate the night before in Missoula had the show not been canceled.  If you're a history buff you've probably read plenty of stories about the Battle of Little Big Horn, or as the Lakota call it, the Battle of Greasy Grass Creek.  Others call it Custer's Last Stand.  Whatever you prefer, this is the part of the country where this song is supposed to be played.  What would have been really far out was if a little Crazy Horse tip of the cap had been offered in the form of the long overdue Come On Baby (Let's Go Downtown), but that didn't happen.

Finishing out the set was Soul Singing, the never late Oh Sweet Nuthin' and two from Shake Your Money Maker that you might know.  The encore started off with She Talks To Angels and got a bump with Don't Do It added for the hell of it.  Chris made a comment about macho security and encouraged them to enlist in the military.  More on that in a minute.  While the show didn't include any crazy surprises or rare treats, it did have a little bit of everything else...rock, blues, weird freakiness, jams, historical references, covers and hits.  Not many fan comments to share from this one, but we'll give you what we found...

killer show , anytime I get sting me, ART,soul singing and don't do it, I'm in heaven.  and the oh sweet nuthin was beautiful

This dude was left feeling a bit disappointed... 

Weekest show of the 5 I have seen this tour - 5. Granted it was a screwed up venue in a ritzy neighborhood. It was good to see CR mention the security deal.  Dont do it, Angels and Roadside were very nice. Luther had a good solo in Roadside. No thorn or MMS weird. 

But this guy was happy...

before the encore Chris said, "I'd like to thank the security for not letting some people have fun, Hey if you wanna work in the military police, then go to fucking afghanistan."

at that point the front of the stage was open for
people to move up.

sting me, art, oh sweet nuthin, greasy grass and dont do it...I was in heaven...killer set...truth & salvage was great too...

So there you go folks - once again this band displays its ability to make or break your night.  Some people walk away smiling, others walk away wanting something they didn't get.  That pretty much sums up why you need to get your butt to multiple shows and go on a couple of extended runs (if you can) while the band is on tour.  Take out a second mortgage on the house, sell your old lady's jewelry, pawn your golf clubs, knock off a 7-Eleven..whatever you have to do.  It's not like you haven't wondered how some people can afford to hit so many shows.  Think about it...