In case you need a bathroom break for this review, take it now, because 15 minutes after the first set the band, back in their custom electric frame of mind, relished in “And The Band Played On”, a delightfully fun-loving ode from their last effort – the double album Before The Frost… Until The Freeze, an album historically recorded before a small core group of fans over 5 nights at the legendary Levon Helms Barn in Woodstock. This unexpected opening took a left turn to deliver the Amorica classic “High Head Blues” with a vigor not found on the studio version and then a sharp right for the underappreciated Lions album track “Greasy Grass River” which has a fervor live that has come to make it a welcomed addition to any setlist -a number that stands up to both the die-hards and casuals in attendance.

This “Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys” tour does have another song coupling that is approaching classic status. They can be found together on their latest release and are a real gem live. The space that the canvas of these two songs together provides for the entire band to improvise and thrive within is unmatched and you lose yourself for what could quite possibly be 20 minutes that pass through the emotional pining of “Ballad In Urgency” and the all out classic road song “Wiser Time” which has come to take on epic proportions as the finale to this one-two punch live jam tandem.

The plaintive story-telling of “There’s Gold In Them Hills” vividly comes alive in the quick acoustic-number-in-the-electric-set as the album Warpaint makes its first and only appearance in tonights set. This beautiful number comes across great live, highlighting the frontman’s increasing vocal authority and control as Chris masterfully vacillates from the subtle nuances necessary for this track to the guttural hard-rockers such as the old-school warhorse of a live experience that punctuates the end of the set and on its first notes leaves no one wondering where “No Speak No Slave” will end.

And as the encore to the night begins with the classic, driving “Think N’ Thin”, and ends with the fun romp thru “Shake Your Money Maker” a dance-jam end to the night as well as a nod to their first album, the multi-plainum smash that started it all 20 years ago, you barely have to time to think back to this band. This band that at the end of the first set surrounded a classic hit in “Jealous Again” with a super-rare track that one can’t even imagine is somehow left off of an album and relegated to b-side status in “Darlings of the Underground Press” and a haven’t-played-in-five-years relentless call to arms in “Go Faster”. This band that has survived numerous line-ups changes, pitched battles between its two-sibling leader songwriters, a musical landscape that scarcely scours up any authenticity, and all the other too-numerous-to-name struggles a band of two decades lives through. This band that somehow has found a way to thrive with new songs, in a new line-up, while staying true to their personal evolution of their music. This band that lives on a tour bus and finds a way to put on a show that a casual fan will enjoy, a show that a true musician can appreciate, a show that rewards the die-hard fan for living the songs and by whipping out a back catalog song out just for them…regularly, this band that can play to all of those aforementioned parties and leave them wanting more. Well, more is just the thing that may be in short supply. I don’t know what “indefinite hiatus” means, but I know when a band is firing on all cylinders, when there is life and soul, breath and breadth, when they are on fire, when they care, when they are not to be missed before they are missed. If you haven’t yet – get a ticket to see the Black Crowes. Get one now. Get one for a friend. Share The Ride. Before the ride is over. You have 3 months.

Enjoy the song.