Berkeley review from Addicted to Noise (www.addict.com) Black Crowes Take Our Critic On A Trip Crowes Rock Hard. by David Hyman September 20th, 1996 Crowes Rock Hard. Addicted To Noise's David Hyman reports: I entered the Black Crowes concert Friday evening (Sept. 20) at the Berkeley Community Theater with a good deal of skepticism. First of all, the Crows are basically a live band and this was the first concert kicking off a new tour. I assumed they'd be on the rusty side. Second, the audience consisted of what you would expect to find at a modern day Allman Brothers gig; Deadheads mixed with black-clad rockers and weed growers emerging from the forests. Coupling this freaked-out melting pot with the venue's lack of booze, beer, beverages and snacks, it was a safe assumption that folks would not be happy. Also, I had at one time, been a major Black Crowes fan who fell off the bus (to some extent) because of the group's lackluster last two albums. Yet I still held out a little hope. The band must be vibing off the fact that they were in Berkeley. What city could be a better backdrop for this back-to-roots-rock -n-roll-why-the-fuck-did-we-miss-the-'60s-rockers. When the band came out on-stage, I wondered if these guys have eaten in the last decade. If there was a Karen Carpenter award for most anorexic band, the Black Crowes would win hands down. From their looks, they definitely are convincing that they ARE indeed living the drugged-out, on-the-road bad ass hippie lifestyle. Chris Robinson is sporting the Charles Manson look these days with the sensibility to soften it up with a Jerry Garcia T-shirt. Brother Rick Robinson, once the pretty-boy of the band, shows some signs of wear and tear. Johnny Colt on bass must be like 50 years old and one wonders what bar stool they pulled him off of... Insect-like keyboardist Eddie Hirsh has hair down to his knees and probably weighs in at under 100 pounds. They started off with a couple of songs off of Amorica and they were weak to say the least... Chris Robinson was irritated; this is a man who doesn't take kindly to screw ups i.e. Miles Davis, James Brown. His wrath seemed to be met with intimidation as they went into a blistering version of "Hotel Illness." This is where my skepticism was laid aside. Chris had metamorphosed from Charles Manson into a twisting and contorting priest. "Hotel Illness" turned into this spewage of soul and was followed by "Wiser Time" with the help of a guest slide guitarist. The Crowes obviously were pumped to have this guy up there and the band seemed to be having a great time. "Sting" followed and the audience was dancing along with Chris. Things start to get blurry now. Some strange energy came out of Chris' chakra and b-lined toward my head. The Crowes starting playing, no, it couldn't be, it's too new, it's too bizarre, it's.... "Big Time" from Neil Young's newest album Broken Arrow. Chris's voice did more than justice but unfortunately the band's southern-rock sensibilities still couldn't compare to the emotion brought forth by Neil's guitar. Nice try though. Admirable. "Blackberry," off the new album, will definitely become a staple in their repertoire. I might be tempted to say it was the highlight of the evening. Just a great groove with some cool electric piano work by insect Eddie Hirsch, filling in all the spaces with all the right sounds. A way extended (25 minutes?) version of "Hard to Handle" closed the set. They went into this completely psychedelic jam that was so Dead like, I got major L.S.D flashbacks. Halfway into the jam I had no idea what song they were playing or where I was. This is what a concert should be. My ego was gone completely. Just me and a bunch of Deadheads dancing with the black-clad leather rockers. "Twice As Hard" followed by "Sister Luck" comprised the encore. Both nothing short of stellar. It's often said that creative imitators are more successful than the originators and tonight's show proved this theory. Saturday night with the Crowes in Reno? That's not too far....