Rock band the Black Crowes, who kicked off a North American tour with Oasis last weekend, took time out Monday to immortalize their handprints in concrete.
As about 200 fans looked on, the group’s members dipped their hands in wet concrete at the Rockwalk, joining a display that includes such artists as Willie Dixon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bonnie Raitt and Black Sabbath.
“We’ve had an amazing journey the last 10 years and we couldn’t be happier,” singer Chris Robinson told the fans gathered on Sunset Boulevard outside the guitar store that operates the exhibit.
“From Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters and George Jones and Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Dylan and Neil Young and Outkast and a million other cool things, it really is about celebrating a bit of beauty and all the things that come with that,” Robinson said.
Robinson was accompanied by his brother Rich, the band’s guitarist, as well as drummer Steve Gorman and keyboardist Eddie Harsch. Guitarist Audley Freed and bass player Andy Hess, relatively new additions to the lineup, did not attend. In fact, organizers had expected only the Robinsons, the group’s leaders, to turn up.
Among the celebs on hand were Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, Jeff Beck’s guitarist, Jennifer Batten, former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, and producer Don Was, who recorded the new Black Crowes album “Lions,” which was released last week.
The Crowes/Oasis roadshow, dubbed “The Tour of Brotherly Love” as a sly nod to past sibling tensions in both bands, has gone off without a hitch so far, Gallagher told Reuters.
“The first gig (in Las Vegas on Friday) was really good, the second one in Santa Barbara (on Saturday) was fantastic, so it’s been really, really good so far,” he said. “We’re not going, ‘Wow! This is actually going to work.’ We knew it was going to work in the first place.”
Noel and his younger brother, Liam, the group’s singer, have had their blow-ups in the past. Noel said brothers in bands have good days and bad days. “We do argue with the drummers as well,” he noted.
Chris Robinson told Reuters last week that he does not really fight with Rich anymore, although “we have a long way to go” in terms of improving the relationship.
The next show was scheduled for Monday at the Greek Theater. Oasis plays first, though both bands are billed as co-headliners.