The Black Crowes

Live At The Greek

Page and Crowes crank out the Zeppelin

Review Score:

(8/10)
Who would have expected this gem to come out?

Apparently, Jimmy Page was sick and tired of waiting around for Robert Plant to make up his mind when to work again. The seeds of this union came last summer when Page and the Crowes did a charity gig in London. From there, the boys did a 6 date tour in the fall, and the shows from the Greek were recorded and were deemed so good that they had to be released.

Those intimately familiar with the Zeppelin catalog will be delighted to hear "Ten Years Gone" in all its harmonized guitar glory thanks to Page, Rich Robinson and Audley Freed. Obscure songs like "Sick Again" and "Out on the Tiles" are crushing and pounding. Chris Robinson handles Plant's vocal duties with gusto, putting his own imprint on the songs rather than to mimic Percy. His harp wailing on "Nobody's Fault But Mine" is excellent.

Peter Green's "Oh Well" and blues cuts like "Sloppy Drunk" and "Woke Up This Morning" are where the boys really shine because this is where Page and the Crowes find common ground, loosen up and let it rip. Jimmy is in fine form, sloppy occasionally but inspired and clearly delighted with his mates. The Crowes do the Zeppelin material very convincingly. This is no surprise since the Robinson brothers frequently list "Physical Graffiti" and "Presence" as two of their favorite albums.

The one disappointment is that no Crowes songs are included due to contractual issues with their record label. It would have been nice to hear Page throw down some country licks on "Wiser Time", but no such luck. But that is a minor complaint. Zeppelin fans have been complaining about the lack of live Zeppelin for twenty years, and although this collection is not the ideal solution to that problem, it certainly gets the blood pressure rising a bit. This is a raw, bluesy, in-your-face performance with an edge and you should buy it right now.

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