In their earliest years, The Black Crowes proudly wore their hard-rock swagger on their sleeves. Tours alongside heavyweights like Aerosmith, ZZ Top, and Robert Plant helped propel the band toward mainstream headliner status. While the mid-to-late ’90s would see the group drifting into more mellow territory—headlining the HORDE Festival and Furthur Festival —their most commercially successful period remains those early hard-rock years, sparked by the releases of their first two albums, Shake Your Money Maker and The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion.
Today, the band—perhaps more accurately described as a duo, with only brothers Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson remaining from the original era—is gearing up for the release of their tenth studio album, A Pound of Feathers, this Friday (3/13). In the spirit of Manic Monday, we’ll take a look back at 1991.
That year, The Black Crowes appeared fourth on the bill at the legendary Monsters of Rock Festival 1991 in Moscow, sharing the lineup with hard-rock giants like AC/DC, Metallica, and Pantera. Held on September 28, 1991, at Tushino Airfield in Moscow, the event became a powerful symbol of cultural change as the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse and Western rock music finally poured into the country.
For decades, hard rock and heavy metal had been largely restricted behind the Iron Curtain. The festival shattered that barrier, drawing an estimated 1 to 1.5 million fans, making it one of the largest concerts in history.
Watch the young Crowes rise to the moment and meet the massive expectations of the day with a blistering performance of “Jealous Again.“
