Live Review : The Black Crowes + Reef @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on September 24th 2022

We have come full circle. Thirty-one years ago (almost, almost to the day) The Black Crowes played Manchester Apollo on the crest of a blues rock wave. Their star wasn’t just ascending, it was hurtling towards the cosmos. They had stolen the show at Donington Park the month before and a year after its release, their stunning debut was finally winning over British Audiences. Fast forward three decades, various reunions, countless line-up changes and an awful lot of sibling squabbling later and they back at the Apollo playing their now revered “Shake Your Money Maker” in its entirety. They did almost do it in full at the 1991 show, the only track missing was ‘S’truttin Blues’. It is highly likely that a large proportion of tonight’s crowd were also there thirty one years ago as this is a “vintage” audience very much up for a night of nostalgia and the choice of Reef as support just adds to the ambience of recaptured youth.

Only Gary Stringer and Jack Bessant remain from the heady days of Brit pop but Reef now have rock n’ roll royalty onboard in the form of Ronnie Wood’s lad Jesse (former Duran Duran superstar Andy Taylor is also a regular fixture on second guitar but tonight seems to have been displaced by Amy Newton). The early doors appearance of the soul contribution from their 1995 debut, ‘Naked’ sparks a smattering of recognition and sporadic pockets of the crowd lustfully sing along. However, it is the appearance of THAT song five tracks in that makes the place lose their collective shit. The reception to ‘Place Your Hands’ is frankly astonishing and in many ways eclipses any of the plaudits that The Black Crowes receive.

Whilst they may well have morphed over the years into an AC/DC aping scuzzy blues band, to the vast majority of the heaving masses squeezed into the Apollo, Reef will forever be the house band on TFI Friday. Screaming out “it’s your letters” as you wolfed down your pre-big night out tea. ‘Place Your Hands’ is a rare beast of a track, that captures perfectly the feel and taste of a bygone era. It is a three and half minute time machine, evoking memories of the hedonistic optimism that fuelled the nineties. The rest of the set never quite recovers as the only way is down once you played the ace in your hand. The band try hard but as they provide no more big guns (‘Come back Brighter’ and ‘Consideration’ are both conspicuous by their absence) you can visibly see interest wain and attention spans being stretched. Perfectly serviceable warm up fodder but the moral of the story is probably don’t dispense with a seismic shifting track halfway through a set.

The Black Crowes seem to have transcended from ambitious young bucks to grizzled veterans without actually passing through any of the in-between stages. Its hard now to describe how revolutionary they actually were when they burst on the scene in 1990. They seamlessly combined timeless bluesy delivery with a punk attitude. They stole the riffs off the old guard and then preceded to stick two fingers up at them. “Shake Your Money Maker” took a musical style that had been significantly sanitised and made it sexy and sassy again. Reproduced here in its entirety and in order, it has lost none of its power or pizzazz. Though piazza maybe not actually be the right word as there has always been something understated and refined about their approach. Yes ‘Jealous Again’ and ‘Twice as Hard’ are swaggering anthems but they also are minimalistic and reserved. There is never an overuse of riffs or histrionics. Everything is perfectly measured, just enough driving guitars to give it a grove but enough space to let those riffs breath. 

They plough through the album with little interaction but to be honest when you are dealing with songs as good as these there I no need to intersperse them with meaningless anecdotes or platitudes. “Shake Your Money Maker” was always about much more than the hits and ‘Sister Luck’, ‘Thick ‘N Thin’ and ‘Stir It Cold’ are greeted with the same level of rapture as any of their more well-known brethren. There is little to mark the end of the play through as they hurtle straight into ‘My Morning Song’ from their equally incredible follow up, “The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion”. Chris Robinson is still a ball of kinetic energy that just oozes of the stage. He struts, preens, and jerks in the same way that he did thirty years ago, yet it does not feel the slightest bit awkward and facile. You see he possesses a magnetic personality that sits just the right side of ego. He is in utter love with his own songs and that power and conviction burns through.

In the main the Robinson brothers let each other get on with their respective roles. There is an air of mutual respect but also of clear personal space boundaries. When they do combine though it is magical. They provide angelic harmonies on ‘Wiser Time’, with Rich making a rare wander into the spotlight. The juxtaposition between the two brothers is at the heart of the wonder of The Black Crowes. The introverted gentleness of Rich and the extroverted charismatic power of Chris. Main set closer ‘Remedy’ sees them dive into an elongated jam with Chris accompanying Rich’s haunting guitar with his harmonica. They return for one final track, billed by Chris as a mark of respect for Manchester bands such as The Stone roses, Joy Division and Happy Mondays. They interestingly choose The Velvet Underground’s ‘Rock n’roll’ which they skillfully molded into a stomping piece of bluesy rock. They may well have not been away long enough for us to truly miss them and the now frequent decisions to call it a day may now feel a bit “cry wolf” but tonight The Black Crowes remind us all why they are so revered and the utter blissful beauty of rock n’roll. Yes a blatant trip of meaningless nostalgia but when it is this enjoyable who is complaining!!