By Your Side (The Black Crowes Song) - Concert Tours

Concert Tours

The Black Crowes played a few shows in the eastern US in early January before the release of By Your Side, then spent the rest of the month promoting the album via television appearances in the US, Canada and Europe. A brief warm-up show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on February 10 preceded a two-month tour of North American theaters, called the Souled Out Tour, with Moke as the opening band. Every song from By Your Side was played at some point on this tour – "Go Faster", "Kickin' My Heart Around", "By Your Side" and "Virtue and Vice" were performed at most shows, but "Diamond Ring" was played only twice. A 1963 Fender Esquire guitar belonging to Rich was stolen from the backstage area at DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 16. The band's management waited six weeks before issuing a press release asking for its return, hoping the guitar would turn up in a local pawnshop. No update on the guitar was ever provided. After taking two weeks off, the band spent six weeks playing outdoor amphitheaters in the US on a co-headlining tour with Lenny Kravitz; opening acts were Everlast and Cree Summer.

Beginning in June, The Black Crowes toured Europe for six weeks, opening for Aerosmith in concert halls and at festivals. "Go Faster" and "Kickin' My Heart Around" remained staples of the band's 60- to 75-minute sets. Harsch required emergency surgery for a twisted intestine on June 24 and missed the band's next eight shows. (The crew continued to set up Harsch's keyboards and placed a human-sized inflatable green alien in his spot.) One of the shows Harsch missed was a charity concert in London at which The Black Crowes played a 45-minute set of Led Zeppelin songs and blues covers with Jimmy Page. The band's last show in support of By Your Side was a one-off festival date in Niigata, Japan, on July 30.