Cracker // Live @ Riverfront Live // 7.21.23 -

Article & Photos by: Linda Carlson

Cincinnati, OH – It was Friday, a night to relax and enjoy an evening with Cracker, a Virginia rock band that has produced relevant rock since the 1990s.

Of the original band, David Lowery (vocals, guitar) and Johnny Hickman (lead guitar) remain, joined by long-time members Bryan Howard (bass), Carlton “Coco” Owens (drums) and Matt “Pistol” Stoessel (pedal steel guitar).

The style of the band’s rock is difficult to pinpoint precisely. This is aptly captured in the band’s 2014 album, Berkeley to Bakersfield, which celebrates the influences that these two California cities, each with its own unique musical personality, had on the band’s evolution. The band’s music has distinct elements of folk, soul, grunge, punk, garage and country comfortably intermingling, and the overall effect is welcoming and engaging. It draws you in and entertains in a completely satisfying way.

Hickman has a particular knack for guitar showmanship, performing with panache for the band’s eager fans, who call themselves “Crumbs.”

With nine studio albums (along with live albums and some solo projects) under their collective belt, there was plenty of material from which to choose, and the night’s fare was strong:

King of Bakersfield
Been Around the World
Seven Days
Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)
100 Flower Power Maximum
Another Song About the Rain
Someday
Take the Skinheads Bowling (Camper Van Beethoven cover)
Euro-Trash Girl
California Country Boy
Low
Loser (Jerry Garcia cover)
El Cerrito
Get Off This
Pictures of Matchstick Men (Status Quo cover)
Movie Star
The World Is Mine
Time Machine

Encore:

Wedding Day
One Fine Day (per on-stage setlist)

Opening the night was Ghost Mountain, a regional favorite, who were a well-suited appetizer to the night’s main course. They are a soulful rock band with a flair for folksy edginess (tambourine played by foot, and heavy doses of amazing harmonica). They do not disappoint.