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09/22/2004: "Drive By Truckers"
Went down to my old neighborhood last night to see the Drive By Truckers. South Street has changed-not remotely scary or scruffy any more. Even though the Record Exchange is hanging on, there doesn't seem to be much else worth travelling down there for...The Book Trader is gone replaced by the Gap or something.
Allison Moorer opened. Here's a gorgeous woman with a gorgeous voice, a decent band, but with not a single memorable song. Hard to make it in this business, I suppose, a sentiment further exposed by her rhythm guitar player, one Dan Baird, whose Georgia Satellites remain one of the great bar bands of all time and who made a tremendous solo album, Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired. I actually kind of liked Buffalo Nickel but it didn't do nearly as well.
Last time I saw Baird he was touring with this group of hipster rock musicians, most of whom had played with bands you'd recognize, playing some covers and just having fun.
He's probably having a ton of fun playing every night. Maybe this is his way of retiring- going on the road with folks that have a slight chance of makin' it.
Anyway, the Truckers come on, and they rock for two and a half hours. Like a frickin' Springsteen show, like a bar band that wants to be there, that so thoroughly enjoys their work that they'd willingly play all night. None of this fifty minute set business for them.
With three songwriters, I guess you need as much time as you can. The rhythm section was game for anything- the drummer didn't hit a false note or a wincing fill the entire set and the bass player was spot on- and the band bounced solos and songs across the stage.
The middle dude- - was a mixture of Jack Black, Bruce Springsteen, and Cooter from Dukes of Hazzard. He told killer stories, his songs were righteous observational tales of life in the small town south in the first age of globalization where kids were linked by stadium shows and parking lot parties, in a time time before they all watched MTV raps or The Underground.
The right dude- - wrote some challenging tunes. His gravelly voice matched his troubled characters- a suit that use to have rolls of hundreds- and his guitar playing was tasteful. It was the first time I'd seen someone use a wah-wah pedal in such a fearless way- felt like Jimi Hendrix cured us all of that- but his solos weren't the same rock solos you've already heard. His song- "mean old highway"- from southern rock opera is a new favorite of mine; every song he did tonight was worth another listen, and it was fucking distressing when he'd finished and the dude on the left took a turn---
As for the dude on the left, with the Marshall stack and the hackneyed solos...I don't know what he's doing in the band. I'm sure he's a nice enough guy and he certainly writes some cheesy little tunes, but I felt he was a distraction. He nearly killed the encore energy with his song.
Three guitars is a wall of sound- what is southern rock without too many folks on stage- and at times it was a bit much. Two folks noodling in the same position- I don't care for it much.
But...the Truckers don't really care. They're making a kind of music that's based on arena rock, on grand gestures, frenzied audiences, and guitars, guitars, guitars. And they're having fun doing it- no business like sets, no bored chatter, no attitudes- in a way that can get them onto the stage for two and a half hours on a Tuesday night in Philly.
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