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The Black Crowes
Live at The Paramount Theater, Seattle, WA
October 02, 2007

By Scott Marlowe

Twelve years after first seeing The Black Crowes live at Waterloo Village in New Jersey on the short lived H.O.R.D.E. Festival, I was reunited with the band 3,000 miles away at The Paramount Theater in Seattle this past Tuesday night. 12 years and 3,000 miles later it's the same Crowes of 1995: muscular rock and blues jamming, the same classic sound I remember from my youth. And frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

My arriving at the concert was a rather fortunate happenstance. The gracious Megan, whose brother-in-law happened to play bass in opening band, The Buffalo Killers, scored a fistful of tickets and was nice enough to offer me one. I got the call at 6:15, quickly accepted, hit the shower, and at 7:00 on the dot dismounted my bicycle and headed inside The Paramount. While not exactly 1995 when I entered, The Paramount's timeless grandiosity proved a perfect site for a band that has always stood out as classic even when they were climbing the mainstream charts. I immediately knew this would be a most enjoyable evening.

The opening act was The Buffalo Killers, a three-piece guitar/bass/drum outfit from Cincinnati, Ohio, who warmed up the crowd with a big sound and big guitar solos. Led by two bearded, mop-top front men the group reminded of a cross between The Black Keys and My Morning Jacket. And the sound, perhaps not surprisingly, fell somewhere in between. These are dudes who get a lot from their minimal set-up and had the crowd feeling their groove from the first song to the last. As opening bands go, Buffalo Killers were a good one. Add a little more pop sheen to the mix and this is a band who could surely find a place on modern radio with the aforementioned bands. Nice stuff, Buffalo Killers.

Next came the main event: The Black Crowes. A bit older than when I last saw them, slightly different in line-up, but every bit as shimmy-shakin' southern blues rockin', The Crowes worked their entire catalogue covering a few tunes from each of their half-dozen or so releases. Stand-out tunes included a jamtastic version of Soul Singing, another lengthy rendition of Thorn in My Pride, and their best rock tune of the night, Remedy, which alone made me re-think The Southern Harmony... as perhaps The Crowes' very best album (my previous favorite was Amorica). Curious, however, was The Crowes complete lack of even one tune from Shake Your Money Maker, by far the band's biggest seller. I suppose 12 years into their career The Crowes' have put enough distance between themselves and their debut that signature tunes She Talks to Angels, Stare It Cold, and Hard to Handle are no longer needed for their loyal, rabid, doobie obsessed fan base to hoot and holler with glee. And truth be told, The Crowes' catalogue is strong enough true fans probably wouldn't even recognize the omission. Quite a testament to a band that some may view as hardly relevant dinosaurs who fell to earth at the beginning of an age in pop music defined by grunge and the emergence of hip-hop in the mainstream and never really mattered in the first place.

All in all it was great to see The Black Crowes continuing to shake their money makers on the big stage. And while their encore included a scant one song (they didn't even perform one when I saw them in '95!) it was a fitting testament to a band that has never followed trends, always staying true to themselves as they carved their own unique path in the fickle world of musical fads. Good for you, Black Crowes, and keep up the good work. I'll see you in 2019.

The prolonged jamming sessions were more hindrance than endearing sophistication when I first saw The Black Crowes live in 1995.	A toned and tanned Black Crowes worked their entire catalogue save Shake Your Money Maker on their way to charming their loyal Seattle fan base at The Paramount Theater in 2007.

Paramount marquee, Seattle, WA, October 2, 2007

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