It certainly seems like there is less out there
to be happy about these days.
Thankfully, The Black Crowes are on tour to help us celebrate those
moments that truly make us happy. For
example, I am truly happy when in a photo pit, shooting a show. My friend Louie would be truly happy seeing
the stack of amps and cases of guitars that Rich Robinson brings with him on
the road and for the more than 2000 people who sold out the MTelus on Tuesday
night, happiness was seeing The Black Crowes back in town for the first time in
16 years. As the band slowly made their way, one by one,
on to the stage as some AC/DC blared from the speakers, the collective
happiness in the building continued to build and rise until, at last, singer
Chris Robinson strutted out on to the stage as the crowd finally erupted and
the festivities began.
They opened with
two tracks from their latest album, Happiness Bastards, which was released just
a little more than a month ago. It is their
first album since reforming the band back in 2019 and of new material since
2009. Before the third song, Chris
Robinson mentioned how they have some new songs to play, but also some old one
as well, before The Black Crowes broke into ‘Twice As Hard’, the first track from their
debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, from 1990.
It’s the album that I remember first getting as a kid and I won’t deny
that some goose bumps appeared as that familiar slow fuzzy guitar intro began
to play. With all that said, what exactly is
happiness? Happiness is a positive and
pleasant emotion, ranging from contentment to intense joy. Everyone leaving the MTelus on Tuesday night
will tell you that happiness can be found at a Black Crowes concert. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm. Here are several more photographs of The Black Crowes performing on stage.
