When wayward guitarist Marc Ford departed the Crowes yet again in 2006 after (or so we thought) a great run of reunion shows with The Black Crowes, the vitriol from fans (who treated Ford like the Messiah) became so toxic that the band had to remove its bulging, angry message boards from its official site. It seemed the revolving door that is the Black Crowes was once again spinning, as it also saw the exit of longtime keys man Ed Harsch. Lineup changes had resulted in two half-baked discs (By Your Side and Lions) and suddenly the potential of the reunion after a five year hiatus seemed to evaporate before our eyes. The already-pessimistic fans were pissed. How did the Crowes respond? By recording their best, most consistent album since their sophomore masterpiece The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion with this year's Warpaint. Snagging Luther Dickinson from the North Mississippi Allstars (see below) resulted in some chemistry that even the band probably didn't expect, and the discs exudes the confidence and thunder of their extensive live shows. Raw blues, legitimate (not meandering) psychedelia, and the classic rock influences they proudly wear on their sleeve are evident in some undeniably strong songwriting (my favorites being "Evergreen", "Movin' On Down The Line" and the first single "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution"), and unlike Maxim, I've actually heard the album. In fact its been in steady rotation here at Casa Flash since its March '08 release. Best of all, it seems to have silenced the whiny little Marc Ford fanboys, and thankfully we can all just get back to rocking. It's not difficult.Black Crowes 2008 Summer Tour Dates (if you haven't seen them live, you should):
07.29.2008 Cleveland, OH House of Blues - Cleveland
07.30.2008 Cleveland, OH House of Blues - Cleveland
08.01.2008 Bridgeport, CT Gathering of the Vibes
08.02.2008 Newport, RI Dunkin' Donuts Newport Folk Festival
08.03.2008 Vienna, VA Wolf Trap Filene Center
08.05.2008 Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theater
08.06.2008 Covington, KY Madison Theater
08.08.2008 Columbus, OH Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
08.09.2008 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theatre
08.10.2008 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theatre
08.14.2008 Fayetteville, AR Arkansas Music Pavilion
08.15.2008 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah's Council Bluffs Casino
08.17.2008 Jackson Hole, WY Jackson Hole Music Festival
08.29.2008 Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Summerfest
09.03.2008 Victoria, Br Royal Theatre
09.04.2008 Vancouver, Br Orpheum Theatre
09.05.2008 Troutdale, OR McMenamins Edgefield
09.07.2008 Medford, OR Britt Festivals
09.08.2008 Puyallup, WA Western Washington Fair
09.08.2008 Puyallup, WA Puyallup Fair
09.10.2008 Arcata, CA Humboldt State University - Van Duzer Theatre
09.12.2008 Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
09.13.2008 Las Vegas, NV The Joint
09.16.2008 Mesa, AZ Mesa Arts Center - Ikeda Theater
09.17.2008 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
2 comments:
the new album is amazing! all classic crowes with the benefit of having luther dickinson on board. check out the awesome footage of them at last year's Voodoo Experience
These are some awesome videos! Check out the interview with Chris in the interview section! While I was there I checked out the lineup. Voodoo is gona be SICK this year! STP, NIN, REM ,(and some bands that dont have three letter acronyms) Thievery Corporation, Lil Wayne, Joss Stone, Ghostland Observatory...there are just too many to name here everyone needs to go check out the site, I just bought my tickets, its gona be unreal.
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