Kerrang review January 1996 

Kerrang review for Leeds, England
printed  January 25th 1996

  [Submitted by Steve Witty]

 STONED (The Crowes Send Leeds To Sleep)

THE BLACK CROWES/PATTI ROTHBERG 
 Town And Country Club/Leeds/Tuesday January 14

Verdict:  3/5

    Imagine a cross between Edie Brickell (remember her?) and Sheryl
Crow,with all the big stadium rock tendencies surgically
removed.That's Patti Rothberg,that is.A slight,winsome,but deceptively
barbed songwriter with a white-hot touring band,a pair of bondage
pants and a gorgeous album in the shops called 'Between The 1 And
9'.Not very Kerrang!,but nice all the same.

    Mood.Vibe.Ambience.Whatever you call it,The Black Crowes thrive on
it.Tonight,there are thickly piled rugs on the floor,the stage is
decked out in sumptuous red and gold,and candles and incense burn all
along the backline.God only knows what's in the two golden pots
hanging smoking from the ceiling.

    Seeing The Black Crowes live is like being battered gently with a
velvet cosh.There's nothing to jar the senss,and nothing is
hurried.They play what they want,when they want,with the running order
seemingly decided on the spot in the little conferences between the
Robinson brothers.There's nothing so gauche as crowd pleasing
anthems,no concessions to familiarity - and,really,who gives a f**k if
no one buys our new album?

   'Our new album' is,of course,'Three Snakes AndOne Charm',and
tonight The Black Crowes play practically none of it.Actually,that's a
lie.They do run out 'Evil Eye'.'Better when you're Not Alone'and 'Let
Me Share The Ride'.But there's no 'Under A Mountain',no 'Good Friday'
and,unforgivably,no 'Nebakenezer'.

    More worryingly,there's also no 'Jealous Again' and no 'Hard To
Handle'.Instead we get a load of stuff that nobody's heard before,a
Gram Parsons cover and a rummage around the dark recesses of their
previous album's second sides - each number with every last drop of
juice mercilessly jammed out of it.For the
hardcore,bury-me-with-the-records Black Crowes nutcase,it must seem
like heaven.For the rest of us,it seems like an eternity before they
play something we recognise,and then it's a slowed-down and,yes,jammed
out version of 'Sting Me'.

     It doesn't even need to be said that the musicianship is
astonishing.When they play 'High Head Blues',it sounds exactly like
your CD copy,only much louder.Marc Ford,despite looking like the most
stoned human being alive,peels out the most delicious little slide
solos imaginable,and the basslines of Johnny Colt - who resembles a
particularly stern young Amish gentleman - are so on the mark you can
hardly notice them at all.But for most of the gig,you're left
impressed and bursting with admiration,but some way short of being
entertained.And when some wag calls ot 'Play something with a chorus
in it!',you want to marry him and have his children
immediately.F**king great albums,though.

   LIAM SHEILS

Most Rocking Moment:A stunning harmony-laden version of 'Remedy'
Least Rocking Moment:The absence of most of their best tunes'
Best Onstage Quote;"Take that shit outside!"- Chris Robinson,as the
evening's first would-be stage-diver is bundled away by security.
Vedict:Frustrating