The Chris Robinson Brotherhood (CRB) played to a full house at Portland, Oregon’s Revolution Hall on Saturday, December 3rd, offering up two well-received sets of their signature rock n’ soul sound.
Although CRB released a new album, If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home By Now, just a month ago, they would play only one track from that collection. They did, however, play five songs from their other 2016 album, Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel.
CRB doesn’t make two albums months apart and tour relentlessly to fulfill any contractual obligations. They do it because they seem to operate at the whim of their muse, fully immersed in their art. They’ve created enough original music over the past five years to be able to change up their set list every night, sprinkling in a cover here and there to keep fans on their toes.
Seamlessly blurring the lines between soul, funk, Southern Rock and West Coast psychedelia, the first set on Saturday night was interspersed with Anyway You Love tracks “Leave My Guitar Alone,” “Forever As The Moon,” and “California Hymn,” and finished up with a cover of Otis Redding’s “Hard To Handle” which was, of course, a staple of the Black Crowes catalog.
The second set was a take-no-prisoners groove fest that started with “New Cannonball Rag” and included a beautiful rendition of “Appaloosa” from their 2012 album The Magic Door. Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” was put through the CRB jam filter before the set ended strong with fan favorites “Narcissus Soaking Wet” and “Rosalee,” the latter of which led into a rollicking version of Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” to close the set. The rowdy crowd not yet sated, CRB returned for another fun cover in J.J. Cale’s “After Midnight.”
The Chris Robinson Brotherhood Facebook page describes their music as “psychedelic filling in a folk blues pie.” This statement conjures up images of homemade recipes that are baked together with patience, tenderness and love that bring out flavors unimaginable in store-bought, pre-packaged imitations. To indulge this analogy during this holiday season, what goes into making a truly tasty homemade pie?
First, a tried-and-true recipe. Robinson has been doing this for a long time. He knows how to design songs that contain lots of elements while driving toward a singular point. Regular writing partner Neal Casal (guitar, vocals) has continued to blossom as a composer in his own right, as evidenced by his Circles Around The Sun project. Add the quirky creativity of Adam MacDougal (keyboards, vocals) to the mix and they are bound to come up with some tasty recipes.
Ingredients. There’s nothing stale in the members of the Brotherhood that Robinson has surrounded himself with. They each can stand solely on their own, but in this case come together cohesively to serve the greater good. Tony Leone (drums) and Jeff Hill (bass) provide a solid base from which to build. Robinson’s soulful vocals and rhythm guitar work provide further cohesiveness, allowing Casal and MacDougal to play the roles of astral musical emissaries.
Patience, and a little love. The groove of CRB is one that is not in a hurry to get anywhere, but is nurtured and given enough room to grow naturally. The music becomes infectious, activating the dance receptors in people’s minds and hind-sides until the entire venue is alive in a genuine soul shakedown party. The enthusiasm of the crowd is reflected in the musician’s smiles and the whole thing grows and grows.
At least that’s what happened in Portland on Saturday night. And when CRB comes back through town, you can bet there will be people waiting in line to get another helping.
