Black Crowes charms and warms up frosty SLC

As The Black Crowes approach the 20th anniversary of their seminal 1990 debut, "Shake Your Money Marker," the question remains.

Is the Southern bluesy rock band still relevant, or is it destined to fade into the dustbin of rock 'n' roll like the bands it once aped, such as The Faces and Humble Pie?

Judging by the sold-out Depot in Salt Lake City Sunday, and the swagger the band showed, The Black Crowes proved that they are no longer the upstarts who swiped riffs from the 1970s but are now a confident, unique band in its prime.

On a frigid night, the sweat and body warmth of the swaying crowd was matched by the Crowes' emphatic heat, after years of bad blood between band members broke up the band during the middle of the decade. The galloping cadences nearly lifted the roof of the intimate venue, and the rousing band connected with the crowd's hips all night long.

Despite two female back-up singers and a total of eight musicians onstage, brothers Chris and Rich Robinson were the focal point.

Chris, 42, wore a red tie-dyed shirt over jeans and resembled an Old Testament prophet with this thin frame, bushy beard and long, straight hair parted in the middle. While the rest of the band was relatively statuesque throughout, Chris played the role of the mercurial frontman, clapping his hands throughout the songs, blowing the harmonica using his lanky legs, and slapping the tambourine before ending each song flashing the peace sign.

Rich, who turned 40 in May but still looks as if he were 20, was the bandleader and his meaty, muscular rhythm guitar-playing led off most of the songs that were as much R&B as rock 'n' roll.

With incense burning onstage and the unmistakable aroma of marijuana on many of the audience's clothes, the foggy stage nearly hid pianist Adam MacDougall and the back-up singers.

But never lurking in the shadows were the full-bodied, throaty moans of Chris, who alongside Rich played a set heavy on recent material -- 2009's double album "Before The Frost ... Until the Freeze" and 2008's "Warpaint" -- while reaching back to its earlier times. Highlights from the rich catalogue included the title track from 1999's "By Your Side," "Remedy" from the band's 1992 "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" album and "High Head Blues" from 1994's "Amorica" album.

What elevated the band's performance was its willingness to rearrange trifles such as "Downtown Money Waster," which originally clocked in at 3 minutes and 40 seconds on "Amorica." Sunday night, the band tripled the length of the song, added some soulful boogie and serrating licks, and made it sound like it was from "Bat Out of Hell."

The enthusiasm of the crowd, matched by the vitality of the band, gave truth to some lines from the band's "And the Band Played On," which was triumphantly played during the show and showed that the band still has life:

Let's all gather 'round the grand piano

Let's all raise our glasses in the air

Give a cheer to the jolly good fellows

And everyone who's cared

And the band played on

Through the storm

Through the wicked, wicked rain

And the band played on

In golden harmony