Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes recently spoke with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation. During their conversation, Chris shares his thoughts on Aerosmith cancelling their tour and discusses the setlist for The Black Crowes tour.
SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation, hosted by Eddie Trunk, airs daily at 3 PM, ET on SiriusXM’s Faction Talk. Audio clips and transcription below, courtesy of SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation.
On Aerosmith cancelling their tour:
“We love Aerosmith. They’ve always been very kind to The Black Crowes and one of our favorite rock bands. And the tour worked out to where, you know, it was really cool to be included in this. And it worked for us on a number of levels. So when it got canceled last year, we were like, ‘Okay.’ That kind of threw us more for a loop ’cause we had already started. And so this year we were, I mean, I’m disappointed more as a fan than anything because we’re cool. You know what I mean? We have our own world. We have our own life. We have our own people and we’re taken care of. You know what I mean? And we have a lot of, we have a lot ahead of us even after 30 years, you know.
“Were we bummed? Most definitely. But like I said, I’m bummed because, you know, I love that band and it was great to see them, but I also get it, man. You know what I’m saying? Like, people are, you know, people say, ‘Well, Mick Jagger does it.’ I’m like, ‘Well, there’s only, you know, there’s only one Steven Tyler. That’s Mick Jagger, dude.’ You know what I mean? Like, of course Mick Jagger still does it. He’s just like a freak of freak. He’s Mick Jagger. You know what I mean? So I also understand that, hey, if Steven feels like he just can’t do it, it’s heartbreaking for him. But I also understand that all the pressure is on the singer. You know what I mean? And you listen to him, you know, he’s not singing to back up tapes when he comes out and does ‘Back In the Saddle’.”
“Nah. You know, you’re like, ‘Jesus, man.’ That last show in Long Island, which was the third show of the tour last year, we all had a suite to go watch the shows. We’re in New York. We have lots of friends and family. So we did our show. We had a great show. We all go up to the suite to watch them. And like, I’m sitting next to Rich and just like, they sounded incredible. I was like, ‘Wow.’ You know what I mean? So, I mean, I get it. We love them. We love Steven. I hope that that’s not the last that they get to do something. But I also understand the pressure. I also understand when your body is your instrument and, you know, I mean, it’s just a fact. You get to be 76 years old. You know what I mean?”
On the setlist for The Black Crowes tour:
“Pretty much like where we left off with the “Happiness Bastards” tour. So you know after doing the “Shake Your Money Maker” pretty much greatest hits kind of tour, yeah, it loosens us up a little bit to, you know, play some songs from the new record. I mean, we play the songs that we know everyone expects us to play. We play our, you know, our most, you know, the hits or whatever you want to call them, the songs that people know. But it also gives us a little place to, you know, mess around with the cover tunes and, you know, we were just discussing, like, ‘Oh, we should just start playing ‘Mama Kin’ by ourselves and stuff, you know.’ So it gives us an opportunity to play some deeper cuts, some stuff in the new record and then kind of wrap it all up with the songs that people that, you know, I think when we were younger and more self-indulgent, it’d be like, ‘Oh, we could go a week without playing ‘She Talks To Angels’,’ and you know what I mean? We played, you know, we know now like, ‘Oh, we have to play that song every night.’ You know, like, and we love it. As a matter of fact, we understand what a gift it is to have some songs like that, you know, in our repertoire.”
Following Aerosmith’s retirement from touring, The Black Crowes recently announced new dates for The Happiness Bastards Tour (The Reprise).
A message from the band states: “The Bastards Are Back!! Announcing NEW dates added to The Happiness Bastards Tour (The Reprise) this fall! We’re excited to be able to come play in more cities in 2024.
“Due to the cancellation of the Aerosmith Tour, we also had to move a few of the previously announced show dates and unfortunately have to cancel the Tucson, Wanatchee and Verona shows. Original tickets for all the rescheduled dates will be honored at the new shows and all ticketholders will receive an email directly from their point of purchase with more information.
Check out ALL show dates at TheBlackCrowes.com. We can’t wait to get back out on the road!” 🤘
(Photo – Ross Halfin)