If your ideal rock-n-roll fantasy is to step into a time machine and head back to the sixties to catch a show with The Greatful Dead, then you just may have come as close as you ever will had you attended Chris Robinson Brotherhood at the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas on December 8th. There may not have been a time machine at the door, or a Delorean in the parking lot, but there were plenty of tie-dyed shirts and hippie vibes in the crowd attending what is best described as a good old fashioned throwback concert.
Chris Robinson is of course best known for his time fronting The Black Crows, and for his vocal support for the changing of the marijuana laws in our country. The Brotherhood may have some similar bluesy sound, but this was anything but another typical Black Crows cover act. This has a down home 'friends just having a good old fashioned jam' act. I had heard going in that The Brotherhood tended to not play any Black Crows songs, and instead go an entirely different direction. I assumed that would be true, but was surprised when the band did two lesser known deep cuts from The Black Crows in “Tornado” and “Roll Old Jeremiah”. Chris may want to distance himself from The Black Crows legacy, but it was good to see him embrace it, even if it was briefly.
The surprising part was that The Brotherhood took a brief intermission after the first eight songs, which was opened with a fun jam cover of The Byrds “Lazy Days”. I can only assume the brief intermission was to allow the band to go in the back and discuss the ever changing marijuana laws here in Nevada. The second set was composed almost entirely of songs from The Brotherhood’s “Barefoot in the Head” 2017 release and it ended with another superb cover of Neil Young’s “The Old Country Waltz” as the encore.
It may be almost 2018, but again, you still had a feel as if you just got off a spaceship and walked into the Brooklyn Bowl. The best part of the night was that it seemed believable that almost nothing was orchestrated, that this was just a bunch of friends who showed up together at the same place to jam on a Friday night. For many fans, it is a shame that a once game changing act in The Black Crows is no more. If this is as close as we can get these days, I will for one sure take it.
For more info, merch and tour dates through spring 2018 for
Chris Robinson Brotherhood visit https://chrisrobinsonbrotherhood.com
Chris Robinson Brotherhood Photos: Jo Anna Jackson / Stardogphotos
