From the opening cover of Hank Ballard’s blues-gospel tune, when a two-part harmony rang, “There’s a thrill up on the hill, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” was onboard Friday night for .
CRB continued with a set of 12 bar blues and country drivers, and the room seemed okay, maybe even grateful, that this wasn’t a Black Crowes show. It was more casual, or as casual as Robinson — riffing covers and lesser-known songs to a small crowd — can be.
Stand outs “Goodbye Wheeling” and “Roll Old Jeremiah” were loose and fun, but a well-paced cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman” reminded concertgoers that this great backing band and colossal voice were just getting warmed up.
Set two was a hit from the moment the band opened with Bobby Mitchell’s, “Try Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and pushed on with Three Dog Nightap catchy, scratchy, want-to-be-traveling gem, “Never Been to Spain.”
A lengthy double encore beginning with the blues standard, “Driving Wheel,” which fans recognized as a Black Crowes classic, brought the house down. The show ended well with a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Sugaree.” And while covers seemed to, well cover the night, the room got what it wanted — a rousing and intimate night with Robinson.
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Brendan Magee is a Denver-based writer and regular contributor to Reverb. When not writing, Brendan is working on his own music as a singer-songwriter in Capitol Hill.
