POP MUSIC REVIEW : Rousing Retro Rock From Black Crowes

The Black Crowes can’t seem to shake the tag of Rolling Stones clone, but it really hasn’t been applicable for years. It used to be that a Crowes show was the next best thing to a Stones concert--but not anymore.

The Crowes, who opened a three-night engagement at the Pantages Theatre on Wednesday, are into long, lazy, blues-soaked jams, inviting comparisons to the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band. At times the guitar attack did reek of the Stones, but that was more the exception than the rule. Lanky lead singer Chris Robinson still occasionally seems like Mick Jagger in slow-motion, but his gravelly, bluesy vocals owe more to Rod Stewart than Jagger.

The Crowes are a first-rate retro band. They’re mired in ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll, consistently paying homage to many bands from that era as well as R&B; and blues greats such as Willie Dixon and Otis Redding. Classic-rock fans have a good time listening to Crowes music and trying to figure out which groups they sound like. On a given number, you can often pick out the styles of five or six different groups.

Because it’s hard to find an original note anywhere in the show, many critics wrote off the Crowes long ago. But this is still an exhilarating live band, with Robinson capable of raising goose bumps when he really pours his soul into a song. Wednesday’s show was a little ragged at times, but for the most part it was any evening of rousing, heartfelt rock ‘n’ roll.

* The Black Crowes play tonight at the Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., 8 p.m. $27.50. (213) 480-3232. Also Sunday at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, 1122 N. Milpas St., Santa Barbara, 6 p.m. $27. (805) 568-2695; Wednesday at the San Diego Civic Theatre, 202 C St., San Diego, 8 p.m. $23.50. (619) 236-6510.