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THE MAY TODO LIST LIVEMAGS.NET MAY>>10 19 Crow No More: The Black Crowes Final OC show By: Daniel Albert At #92 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock", The Black Crowes are no strangers to success. With over 20 million albums sold, kudos from some of the greatest publications, including being voted 'Best New American Band' by the readers of Rolling Stone in 1990, and an unending number of devoted fans the Black Crowes truly are Rock 'N' Roll royalty. So what has prompted what seems like such an abrupt end to an illustrious career? In order to look forward we must first look back. In 1989, the band, who have been heavily influenced by, and indebted to, The Rolling Stones, The Faces, Buddy Guy, Otis Redding, and Humble Pie, made a demo cassette tape that got them signed with American Recordings (then named Def American) and the rest, as they say, was history. Although known back then as "Mr. Crowes Garden" driving force members of the band brothers Chris & Rich Robinson had finally gotten the break they were looking for and were off to the races. Redubbed The Crowes, they released their first studio album in 1990 entitled "Shake Your Money Maker". The album was teeming with hit singles such as "Hard to Handle", "She Talks to Angels", "Jealous Again", "Twice As Hard", "Sister Luck", and "Seeing Things", which helped catapult their debut album to multi-platinum certification, eventually selling over three million copies. This is not to say however that the band has led a storybook existence. Tension between band mates has almost been a staple for the Black Crowes, and the band has changed its look numerous times over its lengthy career. After replacing guitarist Jeff Cease with Marc Ford from retro-rock power trio Burning Tree, the Crowes released their second album The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion in 1992 where it debuted at #1 on Billboard's top 200 albums. Then again in July of 1996, the band recorded a nearly complete album called "Band", which was scrapped due to escalating tension within the band once more. Guitarist Marc Ford was fired and bassist Johnny Colt subsequently left the group, utterly destroying the Crowes' lineup of the previous three albums. The unreleased tracks from Band surfaced among tape trading circles and were later officially released on The Lost Crowes compilation in 2006. In May 2001, the band released Lions on Virgin where singles "Lickin" and "Soul Singing" had a solid presence on rock radio as Lions peaked at #20 on the charts. The band launched its support of the album with the month-long Tour of "Brotherly Love" with Oasis and Spacehog in May and June 2001. Throughout the rest of 2001, the band embarked on the successful "Listen Massive" headlining tour in support of Lions, which spanned Europe and Japan before concluding with 36 US shows. The band effectively dissolved in January 2002 with the departure of drummer Steve Gorman and an announcement that the band was "taking a hiatus." After more changes, (reuniting with Marc Ford and keyboardist Eddie Harsch and then firing Harsch again and having Marc Ford quit via fax), The Crowes then newest album "Warpaint" hit retail and online stores on March 4, 2008, released independently on the band's own Silver Arrow label via Megaforce Records. Warpaint was a critically-acclaimed hit with press and the album landed at #5 on its Billboard chart, which was the band's best debut since The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion topped the charts. Thus bringing us roughly to where we are now. A history of chaotic wheeling and dealing within the band's inner structures has produced not only great music, but also a legacy of a tormented band that just can't seem to get along. So is that why The Black Crowes are going on an "indefinite hiatus"? All sources lead to a different explanation. The band plans to release a new album, "Croweology", this August and will also be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album Shake Your Moneymaker. However with all of that said Rolling Stone asked Chris Robinson how long the band will be away, he simply replied, "Two years, five years, 10 years - you never know when you jump into the void. This cycle we've been on has been incredible. Since the summer of '07, when we made "Warpaint", it's been the three most fulfilling years I've ever had with this band. But if we kept going, we might be playing with fate too much. It would be nice to have a 30th anniversary. But we should walk away from this while everyone's in a good mood." His brother Rich added, "We all have babies. I'm expecting one any day now. It seemed like a good time. To me, 'hiatus' means there is no plan. We haven't said, 'Let's get back together in 2012.' And we haven't said, 'let's not.' " The Crowes' 2010 tour begins in Milwaukee on August 13 and winds up with six nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco from December 12-19. The trek also includes five nights at the Nokia Theater, LA, Times Square in New York City between October 31 and November 6 making their performance at Doheny Blues Festival their last one in Orange County for a long time to come, and even possibly ever.