Review: Rock icon showcases lost ’90s classic during only West Coast dates

Cracker took a different approach than usual during its long-awaited return to the Bay Area.

Instead of just peddling the hits/fan favorites — as well as whatever else band leader (and former Bay Area resident) David Lowery was in the mood to play — these ’90s alt-rock champs were celebrating the 30th anniversary of their third album, “The Golden Age,” by performing that 1996 effort in its entirety.

That was an unconventional choice, in a way, because “The Golden Age” was far from being a hit album — either on the charts or with critics. The Los Angeles Times wrote of “The Golden Age” in a 2 1/2 star review (that reads more like a 1 1/2 star review): “Although irritatingly self-indulgent and arrogant at times, Lowery occasionally borders on brilliance. It’s possible that someone in the future will delve deeply into The Golden Age and find the portent of Sly Stone’s There’s a Riot Going On.”

Well, the reviewer (Sara Scribner) got at least part of that right, because — 30 years later — “The Golden Age” came across as a lost ’90s classic while it was being played live before a sold-out crowd at the lovely HopMonk Tavern in Novato on Saturday. (It was the first of two nights at the venue with Cracker, who where also scheduled to celebrate “The Golden Age” during another KC Turner Presents show on Sunday. For tickets and other information, visit kcturnerpresents.com.)

These two shows at HopMonk Novato — which was quickly back in action following a car crash into the side of the building on Monday — marked Cracker’s only West Coast tour dates of the year and they drew people from all around Northern California and well beyond (with some fans even flying in from other states to see the shows).

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Lowery — who first came to fame as a founding member of the outstanding Santa Cruz-rooted indie-rock act Camper Van Beethoven — and company opened the performance, just like “The Golden Age” itself, with the era-appropriate, alienating anti-anthem “I Hate My Generation” and then proceeded to run through the rest of the album du jour’s 12 tracks in order.

At Lowery’s side, of course, was Johnny Hickman, a brilliant guitar player, co-founder of the band and the other half of Cracker’s creative core. The rest of the group’s terrific lineup for these shows included bassist Bryan Howard and drummer Carlton Walker Owens (both of whom have been with Cracker since 2014) as well as violinist Anne Harris and local talent Megan Slankard doing fabulous backing vocals and making all the cool noises on the keys/computers. (Lowery referred to Slankard as “The IT department.”)

The lasting significance and greatness of “The Golden Age” really became evident as the band continued on through “I’m a Little Rocket Ship,” “Big Dipper” (a song inspired by Lowery’s time in Santa Cruz and seemingly referencing the city’s famed Giant Dipper coaster), “Nothing to Believe In” and the album’s title track. For this was the album, that Cracker turned its back on the alt-rock radio format — to the detriment of the album sales that would, at least initially, follow — and stopped trying to be anything other than itself.

“The Golden Age,” an ironic title to give an album that really marked the end of Cracker’s commercial era, was the point where Cracker really found the groove — based on Lowery’s introspective/observational lyrics, punk-meets-Americana sounds, and smart-meets-smart-alecky vibe — that would color the next 30 years of its career. Sure, you can find all of those elements on the band’s first two sensational albums, 1992’s “Cracker” and 1993’s “Kerosene Hat,” but “The Golden Age” is really where Lowery and Hickman drew the line in the sand as to what they wanted to be — and what they were willing to be.

“The Golden Age” spotlight came to a close with two of the album’s best — the all-time-great Cracker offering “How Can I Live Without You” and “Bicycle Spaniard” — but the show was far from being over.

Lowery and company knew the capacity crowd wanted to hear the hits and they’d definitely deliver them — plus some other offerings — during a bonus seven-song segment that included such powerhouse numbers as “St. Cajetan” (featuring some of the best work of the night from Hickman and violinist Harris), “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now),” “Loser” (Cracker’s popular cover of the Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead classic) and, of course, the radio smash “Low.”

Guitarist Greg Lisher, Lowery’s pal from Camper Van Beethoven, would join the Cracker squad for a number of the bonus tracks, adding his own fretboard fireworks to those coming from Hickman on “Loser” and the show-closing “One Fine Day.”

We’d also get to see the amazingly talented Lisher perform during a really nice opening set, handling the axe as part of an outfit dubbed “David Lowery & Friends” — basically Lisher and everyone from Cracker not named Johnny Hickman — in a performance of Camper Van Beethoven material.

Cracker setlist:
1. “I Hate My Generation”
2. “I’m a Little Rocket Ship”
3. “Big Dipper”
4. “Nothing to Believe In”
5. “The Golden Age”
6. “100 Flower Power Maximum”
7. “Dixie Babylon”
8. “I Can’t Forget You”
9. “Sweet Thistle Pie”
10. “Useless Stuff”
11. “How Can I Live Without You”
12. “Bicycle Spaniard”
13. “Guarded by Monkeys”
14. “St. Cajetan”
15. “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)”
16. “Loser”
17. “Low”
18. “Euro-Trash Girl”
19. “One Fine Day”