Chris Robinson
9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. (June 22, 2002)
»
|
Chris Robinson
9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
June 22, 2002 |
Sporting shorn locks, a full beard and a military-looking shirt that he may have stolen from Oasis' Gallagher brothers, Robinson breezed into the nation's capital Saturday (his third stop on a brief trek up and down the East Coast) to treat the faithful to some new material and some choice covers.
The Crowes frontman, now trying his hand as a solo artist, seems to be still looking for his legs. After two tough crowds in New York and Philadelphia, Robinson seemed surprised to find a audience eager to hear his new material and it took little time for him to win the place over with his charisma and a strong batch of new songs. Fans were even careful throwing out beer bottles as to not disturb the action on stage. The courtesy drew praise from Robinson, who compared his previous two gigs to a wrestling match. "It is so nice having everybody listen. I'm not a big fan of 'rasslin," quipped Robinson, adding later, "You guys in D.C. have it together. It's about the lyrics. It's this mellow thing."
Coming off somewhere between VH1's "Storytellers" and MTV's "Unplugged," Robinson played a set stocked with songs from his forthcoming release "The New Earth Mud." Some gems included the rocking "Mother Of Stone," a jammy "Beginners And Sinners" and the sweet "Untangle My Mind." Cover tunes included Badfinger's "Day After Day," Dylan's "You're A Big Girl Now" and a "bastardized" version of "I Got a Woman" by Ray Charles. Robinson also threw in the Grateful Dead cut "Comes A Time" for good measure.
Robinson's voice was as strong as ever and he also handled the rhythm parts on guitar with panache. Brit guitarist Paul Stacey, whom Robinson met through Noel Gallagher and has adopted as a writing and recording partner, did the heavy lifting with intricate solos, which rounded out the pared-down tunes.
It is no doubt that wife Kate Hudson has become Robinson's muse. While there were always hints of her presence with some of the later Black Crowes material, Hudson is now center stage. Unashamed, Robinson opened the show's encore with a new tune dubbed "Katie Dear." The song was met with a chorus of "Oh"s before Robinson shot back, "Only cowards are afraid to love."
While never officially distancing himself from the Black Crowes -- when telling a story he referred to them as "the other band," drawing boos from the crowd -- Robinson did get defensive about the group's "on hiatus" status, pointing out that he hadn't said anything disparaging about any of his former band mates. However, a line in the chorus of new tune "Last Of The Old Time Train Robbers" ("When it's all over / split the money and go your own way") may just be a glimpse into Robinson's feelings about his new direction.
KEVIN MAURER |