Crosby Collective
The newly formed Crosby Collective vindicated, nay glorified, my devotion to Classic Rock with their highly musical performance of “mashups” last night at the Lobero, which they chose for their only (so far) Southern California appearance. Each mashup seamlessly combined two rock standards in leader Jason Crosby’s own arrangement, all played in a lushly harmonic sound put out by seven crack musicians (keyboards, strings and percussion) and four singers. I wish I could remember the exact combinations, but the original artists represented included Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, Michael Jackson, ELO, Allman Brothers, Neil Young, the Doors, the Kinks, the Beatles, Wings, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone and Jackson Browne. Speaking of Jackson Browne, he came on for the second act and sang “My Opening Farewell,” the number he also sang at Town Hall for Steve Earle last fall, and “Colors of the Sun.” At show’s end he returned for an encore of “Running on Empty” and “Oh, Happy Day.” Seeing the hirsute Browne was of course a highlight, and the reason, I suspect, many people came, but it was the Crosby Collective that was surprising and special. When they broke into the explosive”Lithium,” I was left to imagine how mind-blowing it must have been to see Nirvana in a club, live. The Collective’s versions captured the magic of the original songs and made this one of the most satisfying concerts I’ve seen.
June 13, 2025