Listen, they’re called the Black Crowes, not the Bald Eagles.
The Black Crowes got caught in a political tit for tat at a concert in Tampa, Fla., over the weekend when frontman Chris Robinson didn’t hold back on fans who made a show of their patriotism.
On Sunday, the American rock band was feeling a little salty toward, well, America. During the Central Florida stop on their Southern Hospitality Tour, the band’s logo (which features a black crow dressed in an Uncle Sam getup with a marijuana flag on its hat), flashed across the screen. Although the logo is meant to be subversive and ironic, Tampa fans took it as a cue and started to chant “USA! USA!”
Robinson, who’s from the Deep South, made it clear that his Southern hospitality only goes so far. “Thanks for the geography lesson,” he quipped.
But the chanting continued.
“I don’t know what you have to be so proud of right now,” he said. At this point, Floridians were making a mass exodus from the venue, and Robinson continued to drive home his point as they made their way toward the exits.
“Some of us have real faith, and for those of you f— booing us, some of us are not afraid,” Robinson said. “And we most assuredly are not f— ignorant.”
In video clips of a portion of the incident, some of the audience is heard cheering and clapping while others sit stone-faced in their seats, and many are seen getting up and leaving. After Robinson said his piece, the band continued the show, and played the opening chord to their 1991 megahit, “She Talks to Angels.”
A representative for the Black Crowes did not immediately return The Times’ request for comment.
On March 13, the group dropped its 10th studio album, “A Pound of Feathers,” and in February, the Atlanta band was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a second time.
During a press tour for “A Pound of Feathers,” Robinson was busy on the podcast circuit, appearing on “This Past Weekend With Theo Von”; Jay Mohr’s podcast, “Mohr Stories”; and Bert Kreischer’s podcast, “Bertcast,” among others, but any talk of politics seemed to be off the table. Last year, he did appear on the “Joe Rogan Experience” and briefly said that his politics aligned with the “alternate politics of music.”
And in March he spoke with Mojo and told the outlet that he’s not interested in politics.
“I’m more interested in poetry and art and people and experience,” he said. “But a song doesn’t have to be like an overt political statement. I know what’s right and wrong — and this s— going on right now is wrong.”
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