Chris Robinson Brotherhood – Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA 2/14/15 (SHOW REVIEW)

As Boston endured the fifth blizzard in four weeks the seven feet of snow was no deterrent as Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s (CRB) “Freak flag continued to fly in the face of winter’s onslaught.” Deciding to play just one set instead of the usual two the band took the unadorned stage shortly after nine. Before a backdrop of the One Eye Star and Freak Nation flags, Chris Robinson adorned in jeans and a red and black check flannel, looked extremely relaxed. Although still longhaired and bearded (an apparent requirement for membership in CRB) he was relatively well coiffed by his shaggy standards.

After a bit of tuning the group eased into the jangly “Saturday Night in Boston”. Initially the intimate 800-seat Paradise looked cavernous with about 100 or so people making the trek. After the opener Chris thanked the “survivalists” for enduring “some end of days shit, right here,” but by the end of the set the club was maybe half full. The night began to get stranger at the first breakdown in ”Tomorrow’s Blues” with army jacketed, keyboardist extraordinaire Adam MacDougall starting the journey with a trippy keyboard solo. MacDougall’s keys often have a strange sound somewhere between Farfisa and Fender Rhodes with a hint of Hammond B-3 which although offsetting at first eventually fits in.

“Roane Country Banjo” a “Dire Wolfish” number made its Boston debut, the song ironically does not feature any banjo. A re-worked R & B version of Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me” showed CRB at its best. Robinson, bassist Mark Dutton (looking ever the rock star with a natty scarf tucked in his Levi, jean jacket), and new drummer Tony Leone laid a deep, delicious groove. At the first break MacDougall’s solo elevated the tune, on the second guitarist Neal Casal took it up another notch and on the third solo, MacDougall and Casal outright smoke the tune and in turn the audience. By keeping it simple for the most part and with a bit of Robinson’s guidance Leone managed to fit in nicely.

The Brotherhood is far from a Chris Robinson side project or his backing band. The group has worked hard over a short period of time to establish their own identity. Given the large number of live performances the band is obviously tight, but the harmonies and subtle time and sound changes on tracks such as “Reflections on a Broken Mirror” and “Clear Blue Sky and the Good Doctor” show a dedication to the music, although the intricate arrangement on the latter failed to hold the audiences’ attention. The band has also established a feel for musical jams that in prior shows seemed at times without either purpose or end.

Halfway through the night the twelve bar blues of “Little Lizzie May” devolved into a single note space jam. The band then began to rebuild both the set and the momentum. The slow grove of New Earth Mud’s, “Silver Car” casually built into the Dead’s, “They Love Each Other”. The transformation successfully complete with the epic, psychedelic “Vibration & Light Suite” and set closing “Sunday Sound.”

The first encore, “That’s How Strong My Love Is” seemed a nod to Valentine’s Day a fact seemingly lost in all the snow, parking and travel bans. A bluesy “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It), a new Stones cover, sent the survivalist Freaks back into the elements satiated. Whether it be confidence or comfort CRB seems to have found both its sound and its place, even with a relatively new drummer on-board (Tony Leone taking over for original drummer George Sluppick). The whole band, but both Robinson and Casal in particular seemed completely relaxed the whole evening; acting as if they were playing rehearsals somewhere in Southern California. Maybe that’s the key to surviving the end of days here in Boston.