“And the wine will spill, and the moon will shine, the dream is gone and it’s about time.” One could expect to hear rave reviews coming from such west coast hallowed halls as the Fillmore or Warfield. And places like the The Beacon and The Paradise dot the opposite shore, beckoning both music fans and troubadours of this timeless trade. But when spreading the California cosmic dust and leading folk-psych revivals is the missions main objective, it’s the places between the left and the right, the unseen angles and potentially unsuspecting congregations that need seeding the most. So it’s here, on a Sunday night last fall (10/9/2016), that the CRB planted a big, waving freak flag in the heart of the country and Midwest. Bringing the variables of a liquid lens and get down to Omaha, Nebraska. It was a showdown at the Slowdown and the Brotherhood provided the soundtrack. Dig it.
The first thing that struck me about this show was just how much force they put behind the opening Let’s Go Let’s Go. CR is just driving this thing hard from the very start and it’s got all the momentum and the fire of a set closer. What comes next is the equivalent of tossing fuel on the flames as the combo of Leave My Guitar Alone & Forever As The Moon triggers a set detonation that reverberates through both time and space. Tears in the fabric that will carry through the rest of the night. Neal slices into Leave My Guitar Alone with a razor like solo and by the time Forever As The Moon has spread its ominous and foreshadowing wings, the entire place is one harmonic, glorious, freak vibration. We speak often of song placement and set structure in the pages of the Almanac and how certain things can signal a special night is underway. One of those is an early first set Sunday Sound and the one they offer up to the collective commune here is a twisted, synth soaked submergence of the soul. Our own phantom of the freak opera as Adams laser light show for the mind re-syncs our synapses. A quick glide through Precious Precious sets up a closing run of music that refuses all boundaries, expanding exponentially with every bend, pull and roll. As far as Meanwhile > Tulsa’s go this is one of my favorites of the tour. Meanwhile has a deep, cerebral feel as it creeps up to the peak and even the charge down into the madness and transition into Tulsa has a calm hybridized air. But don’t think for a second that the hatches are safe and the airlock is secure just because the dusty breeze of Tulsa has arrived. It’s got its own low grade fever on the spaceship thing going and intersects seamlessly with a California Hymn that’s the sound of our galactic choirs glow as they set the vessel down and close the set.
~setbreak~
The title cut from the 2014 EP Try Rock and Roll howls from the gate, carrying with it all the accumulated energy of the first set. The elastic lope of New Cannonball follows and comes alive as they soar through powerful passages and stomp around the songs 70’s shaded strut. A downshift comes in the twisting country lament of Tornado as we rise and fall across the prairies and planes of a faraway western planet. The tumbling toms and chainsaw riff of Alcatraz shatters the calm with Shelter People styled soul and needs to be played LOUD! Adam is just a powerhouse here on the piano doing Leon proud with ever run and hammered chord. The highlight of the set for me, and maybe the evening, is this stellar Star Or Stone. The body of the song is a spacey highway of poise and detailed harmony as always. But it’s the jam that develops around the dreamy drifting cascade from Neal that sets this one apart. Executed flawlessly by everyone, its restorative and ever expanding vision picks you up and carries you along with it, as the best of music always does. The environment the rhythm section cultivates around Ain’t It Hard But Fair just sparkles with light. Crisp and propulsive, it’s a joy to consume as Jeff works the low end in every way while Tony’s jazz infused beat seems to find new and dynamic ways to make us dance. The fueled ascension of Narcissus explodes into a possessed voyage of flashing funk. A psychedelic head trip set to the pulverizing groove and thundercat vocal by CR. They drive the pocket into black holes and burning stars until the mothership sets down to refuel with Miss Rosalee for one last high speed burn along the coast. It’s a big Rosalee with a wonderfully weird desolation after the breakdown that they rebuild piece by cosmic piece until the song roars the set to a beautiful close. The encore is set to the lazy swinging door waltz of the NRPS 1971 classic Last Lonely Eagle where once again we find the band switching genres with the greatest of ease and floating through the songs barrelhouse piano and steel guitar like twang. A brilliant rendition to end one of my favorite shows of the tour.
The next entry into our Almanac, coming early next week, will be the first installment in our “Freak Across The South” edition. As our announcement stated, we will be bringing you a from-the-road style feature as we join the band for 4 shows in 5 days. Starting in Tuscaloosa and ending in Memphis, we will have pictures, updates, show rundowns, setlists and lots of other cool stuff throughout the run so keep your eyes on all the Ravens Reels Almanac platforms for a special peek into our week of boogie. And if you are heading out to any of the shows (3/28-3/30-3/31-4/1) come find us for hugs and buttons! Be safe as we start what’s sure to be a glorious Spring Tour and bring along lots of love, we are all bound for boogie! Freak On brothers and sisters!
#crb #chrisrobinsonbrotherhood #letthecrbsetyoufree #blissmerchants #ravensreels #freaktransmissions #crbismagic #crbeings #spaceisonthephone #dancefloorofyourdreams ✌️️👁🔮🌟🌙🍄🚀💫🌘 ☀️
Chris Robinson Brotherhood
10/9/2016
The Slowdown
Omaha, Nebraska
SET ONE:
Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go
Leave My Guitar Alone
Forever As The Moon
Sunday Sound
Precious, Precious
Meanwhile In The Gods
Tulsa Yesterday
California Hymn
SET TWO:
Try Rock And Roll
New Cannonball Rag
Tornado
Alcatraz
Star Or Stone
Ain’t It Hard But Fair
Narcissus Soaking Wet
Rosalee
ENCORE:
Last Lonely Eagle
