DENVER – Walking through the cool crisp wet autumn air on Friday night as I was making my way toward the Fillmore auditorium, I couldn’t help but think of the parallel between the weather and the title of the new Black Crowes disc, Before the Frost…Until the Freeze.

It’s hard to put to words, but it seemed as if something magical was being put into motion right before my eyes, and after stepping into the packed venue, I could tell that it wasn’t just me. Moving my way through the crowd toward the stage I was impressed by not only the politeness and mellowness of the audience (and security), but by the variance of age and associations of the people in attendance. Everybody was just looking forward to a fun, good-old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll show.

So, as the lights dimmed and the band walked out to begin their performance, the trademark smell associated with the Black Crowes (must have been lost of folks with chronic pain) began to waft both from crowd and stage signaling the beginning of a Mile High evening, and to their credit, the Robinson brothers and fellow band of musicians were ready to oblige, truly making it a night of Southern harmonies and musical companionship. While I would have liked to have seen them play more from their extensive catalog of classics and pepper in some of their newer material to the set list, I cannot say that it was not entertaining or enjoyable in any way.

The band was on and the fans were happy. Really doesn’t get much better than that.

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