There were some cynical grumbles when the Black Crowes announced their reunion a few years ago, mainly because it wasn’t a reunion: It was founding brothers Chris and Rich Robinson with a mostly new lineup. And the first reunion tours were built around the decades-old debut album, Shake Your Money Maker—on paper, a bit of a cop-out. But it didn’t sound like one when the new/old Crowes hit Jazz Fest in 2022, and played a scorching set that evoked their younger, feistier days.
Photo courtesy of the Black Crowes
There have already been more changes in the lineup since then, and the Crowes have made their first all-new album in 15 years, Happiness Bastards, which they promoted at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans on Sunday night. But the spirit of the reunion is the same: It’s about reviving the original Crowes sound, before their main reference points shifted from the Faces and the Stones to the Dead and the Band. Frontman Chris Robinson even saw fit to call out a few people upfront who were still seated after the band hit the stage—“It may be Sunday, but I remember when people stood up when a band came out to play music!” Amusing, but unnecessary: The opening “Bedside Manners” (the best of the four new songs played) had already gotten most of the crowd on its feet.
The setlist has been opened up to bring in some rarely-played tunes—for Sunday night they pulled the gospel-ish “Go Tell the Congregation” from the oft-maligned album By Your Side. And a bit of the jam-band element is also back, with an extended, harmonica-led “Thorn in My Pride.” But for the 
most part, this was a rock and roll show. The Crowes were due to open Aerosmith’s farewell tour this fall before it was scuttled, so that kind of energy remains in the set. Chris Robinson remarked that they’d been in Macon the previous day and gotten to visit Otis Redding’s home, so they put some extra kick into “Hard to Handle,” the Redding song that was their breakthrough hit.
Rich Robinson wound up playing most of the leads and solos, which wasn’t the case when they had guitar hotshots like Luther Dickinson and Jackie Greene in the band (or Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke, who was there at Jazz Fest). Current co-guitarist Nico Bereciartua is still finding his way in, though he got a few nice licks in. Rich’s playing tends to be less flashy but more raw, which suits the current sound.
They’ve also revived the Crowes tradition of surprise cover tunes, with two spots in the set reserved for covers, one at midset and one in the encore. And on this occasion, both of those slots went to the Velvet Underground. First came “Oh! Sweet Nothing” sung by Rich and turned into the full-fledged gospel song it always wanted to be. And for the encore, “White Light/White Heat” was revved up to punk fury. No, this wasn’t the original Black Crowes—but at this moment it was even better.
