POP MUSIC REVIEW : Three Members of Black Crowes Try New Sound

“This is a vacation, man,” said the Black Crowes’ lanky lead singer Chris Robinson during a show at the Troubadour Sunday night. To be more specific, it was a vacation from the Black Crowes’ music.

Robinson and two fellow Crowes--drummer Steve Gorman and guitarist Marc Ford--were experimenting with a different format with a new band dubbed Big Toe. Backed by a quartet featuring an organist, they played a rousing but often ragged two-hour jam session, largely steering clear of the sound and the songs that made the Atlanta rock quintet famous.

Normally, the Crowes are a Rolling Stones clone, pounding out swaggering numbers in the same venerable, bluesy chord structures. In this small-club setting, they stretched out on less structured, more obscure numbers. Working in a blues, soul and country vein, the hard-rocking outfit never reached any glorious musical heights. Nor did Robinson, often unconcerned with the key, reveal any hidden vocal talents.

Was this as enjoyable as a Crowes concert? Not really, but it wasn’t meant to be. This was a kicked-back, let-your-hair-down set, under-rehearsed, full of avant-garde riffs, sour notes and bungled chords, obviously geared more to fun than making great music.

The musicians seemed to be having a grand time, and the crowd, as usual in shows like this, was so happy to be part of an “in” happening that they were in ecstasy over just about anything they heard.