Rich Robinson 08.15.14 Mexicali LIVE, New Jersey

Words by Martin Halo | Photos by Rod Snyder

Dim lights and the smell of incense hover alongside a scraggly audience and a tattered band. The rearview mirror bears the reflections of a soulful, rambling, rock n’ roll explosion rooted in organic art and time honored tradition. Warmth and resonance defined a time of artistic elegance, grace, and a belief in those who adorn the covers of vinyl recordings.

What’s ahead you might ask? My girlfriend is probably at an EDM concert as we speak grinding up against some sweatbox who keeps calling her “shortie.”

For those of us left, we ARE friends and we ARE family. Rich Robinson, famous for writing the musical catalog of the Black Crowes, walked into a spotlight at a Mexican restaurant in a crowded Northern New Jersey suburb and greeted gazing eyes with a sense of rock n’ roll intervention. He stood as a stoic character exuding the sense of all things we loved our entire lives, with a reaffirmation that rock n’ roll is indeed alive and there to hold.

Ever since the release of The Ceaseless Sight, Robinson’s third solo effort, a sense of family has defined the shows surrounding the veteran rock musician. A world tour of small clubs, and a record release bash in Applehead Studios in Woodstock, New York, has given fans a rare invitation to the pulpit.

Hollis Brown opened the show. Robinson will be on tour the East Coast through September before joining the Experience Hendrix West Coast dates in October.

Setlist:
Trial & Faith
I Know You
Down the Road
Its Not Easy
Lost & Found
I Remember
All Along the Way
Kind Woman
Masterpiece
Bye Bye Baby
Have A Feeling
Gun
The Giving Key
Here Comes the Night
Inside