On August 17th, the Black Crowes and Tedeschi Trucks Band took the Hollywood Bowl with support from Whiskey Myers. It was an unsuspecting Monday night in the dog days of summer, and the Hollywood Hills didn’t realize they were about to be hit by a blues-rock hurricane, but the crowd knew what they were in for, clad as they were in vintage Dead and Allman Bros shirts.
First up was Whiskey Myers, taking the John Williams stage as a few silvery golden hour clouds decorated the visible Hollywood sign a few hills over. The Stagecoach veterans warmed up the crowd by running through 10 tracks that showcased this band’s particular brand of southern fried rock. The opener, the new single rocker “Midnight Woman,” had some admirable energy, while the meditative, heavy “Glitter Ain’t Gold” and the gentle “Broken Window Serenade” showed some more range.
The unfortunate closer was a track called “Bitch,” featuring horrendous lyrics and cloying vocals. Frontman Cody Cannon is clearly a student of the Robinson school of vocalists, with a straining wail set against a guitar that didn’t take much time to breathe throughout the set. Though a venue of this size seems a bit out of Whiskey Myers’ range, they surely gained more than a few new fans tonight, and they got everyone ready for more music.
Tedeschi Trucks Band took the first headlining set, covering a spread of old hits, new tracks that are bound to become favorites, ballads, anthems, and just the right covers over 15 tracks and 90 minutes. And they casually featured some of the most accomplished guitar playing you can hope to see.
They came out with an absolutely scorching cover of Ann Cole’s “Got My Mo-Jo Working,” heavily featuring Susan Tedeschi’s soulful voice and maniacal guitar. Co-frontman Derek Trucks took the solo in the second track, “Do I Look Worried” – each of the married bandleaders got their moment in the sun.
They slowed things down with “Who Am I” and “Hero,” which filled the whole Bowl with a huge, anthemic chorus, and a trippy facemelter by Tedeschi. “I Want More” picked up the pace with the horn section and the backup vocals, with a beautifully harmonic dueling guitar solo that rocketed right into the sixth song, a rollicking cover of Frank Zappa’s “Willie the Pimp” sung by Mike Mattison.
They continued the push-and-pull: “What in the World,” a slow number with Tedeschi on vocals, led to the rocker “Future Soul,” the title track of their most recent studio effort. And then a slinky, coy guitar fingering led to a cover of “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, a set highlight the band played heavy and mad, with drums like a funeral march.
“Bound For Glory” was a patient, bluesy showcase for noodling, leading into a double bill of Sly and the Family Stone covers, “You Can Make It If You Try” and “Everyday People,” the second of which was a crowd favorite that had everyone on their feet.
They played two more originals, a celebratory “Made Up Mind” and “Isaac and Kebbi,” the second of which blended into “I Walked on Guilded Splinters” by Dr. John, building heady and psychedelic into what felt like an acid-test-era Dead jam. They finished the set with Jeff “Beck’s Bolero,” with an incredible rush of double drums and an arcing rainbow of a solo from Trucks to close it all out.
After a half-hour break, The Black Crowes flocked to the stage, opening with “Remedy.” Frontman Chris Robinson is 59 but sounds great, still delivering feline shrieks with the power of a much younger man. After the first track, he took a look at the crowd and couldn’t believe what he saw, exclaiming, “Look at the Black Crowes at the Hollywood Bowl! Monday night rock and roll show!” Those who have seen Robinson live know that there were a few expletives sprinkled in there.
The band then stormed into a song from their new record, “It’s Like That,” a rousing track that is not really in the same universe as the song that came before it. The hook sounds like an outtake from the movie School of Rock, and the audience could feel the band’s age on this one.
The third song, “Exit,” featured some great guitar from Rich Robinson: a stomping, looping riff that became a geyser of a solo. After that song, Chris told the crowd, “It’s a rock and roll show! That’s why we play these rock and roll songs.” This was a bit strange. Like, yes, this is a rock-and-roll show. That’s why we’re all here. Was his point that there’s not enough rock and roll these days? Was the comment throwing shade at pop music, or hip hop, or what?
There’s a lot of good rock and roll out there. Your argument for seeing your band should never be “come see rock and roll.” To paraphrase sociologist Esther Perel, rock and roll is a place you go. As a frontman, the job is to lead us to that place, but we don’t need a showoff for a tour guide.
Anyway, the next song, “No Speak No Slave” from 1992, did indeed rock. So did “Jealous Again,” which followed it. The guitar riff at the bridge got the crowd jumping and singing the hook. “My Morning Song” was an optimistic jolt, playing even more poignantly as a yawp against dark times now than it was when it was released in 2010, and “Lay It All On Me” was a big kitchen sink stadium anthem building to a fantastic guitar run. Chris lifted the whole mic stand to scream into it.
The show got better as it went on, the band getting a bit looser and filling the Bowl with confidence. One of the set’s highlights was a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’” with Rich Robinson on vocals. It was a trippy 60s delight. And “Thorn in My Pride,” a slow burn to a monster jam, had the audience screeching when Chris whipped out his harmonica.
Two fan favorites came late in the set: their iconic cover of Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle” with its bluesy “Walk This Way” riff, and “She Talks to Angels,” a no-nonsense stadium-sized ballad worthy of Oasis. From there, they finished the set with a rocking “Twice As Hard,” leaving the crowd on their feet as the band left the stage.
But when the Crowes came back for the encore, they weren’t alone. With their co-headliners Tedeschi Trucks Band, they played a dizzying three-song suite of covers: The Rolling Stones’ “Loving Cup,” “Soul Shake” by Delaney & Bonnie, and Matthew Moore’s “Space Captain.” It was a blistering, bluesy conclusion to five glorious hours of rock and roll.
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