VH1 review VH1 taping at The Bottom Line, NYC Tuesday, August 27th, 1996 Review by Maureen Duffy The Black Crowes are truly the blazing light of soulfulness and musical integrity in the contemporary arena of modern pop/rock. While alternative has morphed into mainstream, art into artifice, and soul into attitude, the Crowes have retained a unique and singular identity which transcends categorization. The ability of the brothers Robinson and company to retain both comfortable success and and uncompromised artistic vision, as well as quite an extensive and devoted fan base, eclipses and negates the many superficial, unoriginal, overused, and infuriating comparisons issues and flogged dead by detractors since "Shake Your Moneymaker." Confirmation of the Crowes' musical maturity and instinct culminated at the recent VH1 Storytellers taping, at which I was witness to not only a fabulous acoustic performance, but additionally a chance encounter with my own personal tone king, Marc Ford, who, incidentally, was also responsible for getting my ticketless ass in the door. Therefore, at this point, I'd like to insert a quick but astonished thanks to Marc, wherever he may be, and a first impression sense that he is a warm, and wonderful, kind of guy. Gushing aside, the atmosphere of the taping was intimate, with each of the 150 or so seats affording a perfect view. The sound was similarly impeccable, although when Marc Ford appeared onstage one-third of the way through the set, his guitar could have probably been brought up a little in the mix. Vocals by Chris were characteristic--soaring and perfect--with Rich's own pleasantly and unexpectedly not far behind. On-line reviewers who have professed that there was evident animosity between Chris and Rich Robinson could not have been more off-base. On the contrary, the band's choice to begin the set with two numbers, "Nonfiction" and "Good Friday," performed by the brothers alone, seemed to speak for itself while also initiating the lilting vibe of the rest of the show. A high point of the performance occurred when the entire band broke into "Wiser Time"--it was begun beautifully when Chris got thrown off somehow from the rhythm. All five laughingly began again. Unbelievably, the second start surpassed the first, with Marc Ford's soloing amazing and so very expressive. "Descending," one of my favorite Crowes tunes, was also excellent--Ed Harsh's ethereal piano was captivating. For me, a chance member of this very exclusive audience, the experience was unlike any live performance I've ever observed. Through the combination of meeting Marc Ford in all of his down-to-earth sweetness and humility, and, solely through his effort, being admitted to this very special show, I was able to gleefully disregard the rudeness of the bartender at The Bottom Line and the pomposity of the shmoozy, "industry"-ish VH1 half of the audience and immerse myself in a dizzying two hours of what seemed like nirvana. Maureen Duffy 8-30-96