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After jumping record labels and replacing two band members, the Black Crowes return to full rock 'n' roll mode with their spankin' new album, "By Your Side" (Columbia). Monday night at Manhattan's Bowery Ballroom, the Crowes played their last tune-up show before launching a full-scale theater tour (3,000-5,000 seat venues) that begins Feb. 11 in Milwaukee. With new musicians Audley Freed on guitar and Sven Pipien on bass, the Atlanta sextet roared through 17 songs, including a handful of fan-pleasing selections from the new album.
Prior to the gig, guitarist and band cofounder Rich Robinson explained why the Crowes abandoned their old label, American Records, in favor of Columbia. "We were making these records that we really liked, but I don't think the label understood us," Robinson told EW Online. "I don't think they gave a sh-- anymore. Then Columbia stepped in. They even let us put our record off from the Christmas season -- which was brave on their part -- so we could record a couple of new songs."
With the album's first single, "Kicking My Heart Around," at No. 3 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, it looks like "By Your Side" might fare better than the Crowes' last effort, 1996's underperforming "Three Snakes and One Charm." But either way, Robinson says that what he cares about is the music, not the endless calculation that goes into the marketing side of the business. "It's disgusting. And every year it just seems to get worse," he says about the intense focus on record sales. "This isn't a pop tart or a toaster oven that we're making, it's music. It's a creative process -- have some respect for that."
