March 31, 2005

{ Drive By Truckers - 3/26/05 South Gate House Newport, Ky. }

My little brother surprised me with tickets to this show last Friday. I've been a fan of the band's most recent albums- 2004's The Dirty South and 2003's Decoration Day, and was happy to finally get a chance to see Drive By Truckers live, especially at a venue so well-suited to their particular take on southern rock. They hit the stage around 10pm, and what followed was damn near a religious experience. The Truckers turned it out for almost 3 hours, soaring through a mix of older material (culled from their recently re-issued first two albums Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverance) and newer stuff from Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day and The Dirty South, with a few surprises thrown in. 21 songs in the main set, with an encore of 6 more and a little solo piece by Mr. Patterson Hood in-between. I've never attended a more personable live performance. We might as well have been shit-kickin' on the back porch, passing a bottle of whiskey amongst friends. And that kind of sums up their whole approach- what they do isn't for everybody, but those that feel it are invited to linger, with each song pulling you a bit closer and closer into the fold. They've got a newly released DVD that reports to capture the Drive By Truckers live experience faithfully (it's called The Dirty South Tour - Live at the 40 Watt). I'll be letting you know about that in future posts....

» DriveByTruckers.com (tour dates, merch + more)

By Adam in Live | Comments:

Comments

I saw the DBT two nights earlier for my second time and I've gotta say that they put on a show like no other. I seriously think that these guys may be the best real rock n roll band out there right now. They're in Louisville next month. I can't wait.

Posted by: Matt at April 11, 2005 5:06 AM

They've played here in Charleston in some form or another at least 3-6 times since I've moved here and I've missed each and every single one of them due to 1.) having to work that night 2.) not knowing about the show until the day of or before or 3.) not being able to find the venue and driving around aimlessly for and hour while hearing just how awesome the show and how big the crowd is every time I change a CD because the radio station is doing a live remote.

Posted by: benjamin at April 14, 2005 6:20 PM

way late - but, as a huge truckers fan, i'll say you are 1) certainly right, and b) certainly missing out. best live show i've seen, period. they gots a new album in april i think. then, several independent solo albums to follow. jason isbell's got one in the can with spooner oldham and some other folks, patterson hood's got his second solo joint ready, and word has it that mike cooley has a solo joint in the works/thinks. i love the first two, in no particular order... but a cooley solo disc would be about the culminatio of my yearnings to date.

okay, that's a bit of an overstatement, but you dig what i'm dayin'.

Posted by: carter at December 14, 2005 8:06 AM