Drive-By Truckers 31-3-2024
Northcote Theatre, Naarm
Well, I never saw Jason Isbell with the Drive-By Truckers, but I sure saw Humble Pie….to paraphrase a DBT classic, Let There Be Rock. Tonight, the boys who started in Alabama nearly 30 years ago gave us a taste of their Southern Rock. Steve Marriot would have been proud of their guitar-driven raucous sound.
Bluesfest 2024 hosted the band for a couple of sets on the weekend and we were blessed with one knockout performance at the Northcote Theatre here in Naarm. Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley looked relaxed and ready to play a set that was not confined to a festival stage.
Blasting off with Life In The Factory from Southern Rock Opera shook the packed-out theatre. One gentleman near me started to vibrate with each guitar chord and I was concerned he might blast off into space. With the 3 guitar attack at times, you had to find a place to catch your breath and Sinkhole was not one of those times.
With only a few songs played, you could see that the band was ready to cut loose. They already had. Over the next 2 hours and 10 minutes, they took us on a stroll through the tornado alleys and backroads of America.
Cooley and Hood traded punches with songs that were all about the past. 7 songs from their 2001 release Southern Rock Opera and 6 songs from the 2003 release Decoration Day gave us some prime cuts cooked to perfection. The two stalwarts of the band, Hood at 60 and Cooley not far behind, seem not to have aged a bit when they delivered their rock/punk/americana anthems.
Jay Gonzalez added the third guitar or keyboards as required and we were all enveloped in the blast of rock and roll. Matt Patton, with his beaming smile, kept control of the bass and Brad Morgan completed the section holding it all together. Heads were bopping up and down amongst the largely male crowd. I think I saw a dozen women, maybe a few more, enjoying the onslaught within the mostly testosterone-filled theatre.
From Hell No I Ain’t Happy into Shit Shot Counts which segueued into Let There Be Rock the room was jittering with excitement and joy. As it had been 15 years since the band was in town in support of Booker T., this was a long overdue hang with The Truckers.
Hood was truly enjoying himself. He promised that they would be back again soon. Let there be rock like this in our town whenever possible. Long may it live, ride, and run, however, let it rock.
Well, I never saw The Clash but I sure saw the Drive-By Truckers.
Setlist-31st March 2024
Life in the Factory
Surrender Under Protest
Sink Hole
Uncle Frank
Goode’s Field Road
Where the Devil Don’t Stay
Tornadoes
Women Without Whiskey
18 Wheels of Love
Maria’s Awful Disclosures
The Driver
Every Single Storied Flameout
Dead, Drunk, and Naked
Guitar Man Upstairs
(Something’s Got to) Give Pretty Soon
Sounds Better in the Song
Heathens
Marry Me
Hell No, I Ain’t Happy
Shit Shots Count
Let There Be Rock
Shut Up and Get on the Plane
Angels and Fuselage
