They released their first album when the majority of UB students were learning how to tie their shoes, which means it shouldn't be long before these veterans strut on stage wearing Velcro orthopedics.
The Black Crowes, a blues-rock band from Georgia, performed Monday night at the Center for the Arts for a buoyant audience ranging from baby boomers to ripened beatniks. Over the past decade, The Crowes have accumulated 12 albums, five labels and 14 different band members. Yet, as impressive as that may sound, such a legacy isn't hard to come by.
Framed in a cloud of incense, patriarch Chris Robinson kicked it off with "(Only) Halfway to Everywhere" from their fourth album "Three Snakes and One Charm." The crowd was made feverish by Rob Clores' piping hot organ melting against a backdrop of gospel incantations.
Although every song aspired to be unique, they eventually wound up siphoning into a cookie cutter shaped jam session. The hyperactive incline, the trance-inducing plateau, directly followed by a nonsensical guitar solo and finally the snowballing comedown.
The Crowes' patterned spontaneity in "Sting Me" gently nudged the crowd through their motions of sound.
"The audience at a jam band concert has to be forgiving. If you went to see Neil Diamond, you'd expect to hear certain songs a certain way," said Federal Agent Billy Mach. "The Black Crowes are a retreat. They just get up there and wing it by playing loose. I don't even think they use a set list anymore, they simply improvise."
The Crowes faithfully paid homage to a couple of old school blues beats with Elmore James' "Shake Your Moneymaker" and Willie Dixon's "Mellow Down Easy." These classics come with hefty expectations considering how many times they've been readapted. In comparison to the vintage sound of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Crowes didn't do these timeless tracks justice, but their attempt was endearing.
Altogether the Crowes turned the CFA into a momentous time capsule, their jams were sincere and their intensity stole the crowd.
"I saw them open for Aerosmith once, that's where they got their long hair and pelvic thrusting from," said Legal Studies Graduate Eric Simoneav. "They're a little bit louder and more interesting, less autopilot. They offer the best of all worlds."
Despite obvious jam session conventions, each song subtly scratched the surface of a different sound.
"They haven't found a niche," said musician Geno Rzeznik. "One minute they'll sound like The Allman Brothers with duo guitarists and then like Godsmack or Pink Floyd with an underlying blues influence. The lead singer even reminded me of Steve Marriott of Humble Pie with that high tenor voice."
It's a privilege to sample the energy of a lost generation. Comparing The Black Crowes to progressive jam bands like Dave Matthews, Phish and O.A.R. is like comparing dinosaurs to infants.
Despite leaving out many of their well-known radio hits such as " Hard to Handle" and "Jealous Again," The Black Crowes performed very well and have left the CFA stained with a scent of incense and patchouli.
