Case in point - Wilco sells out the Ryman in March, and Son Volt packed them into the much-smaller Exit/In on April 10.
I chose not to draw unnecessary conclusions, and just wanted to hear Son Volt’s latest incarnation tackle material from The Search.
Son Volt founder/leader/frontman Jay Farrar is not one to chat up his audience – if not for the occasional “Alright” and “Thank you” between songs, he barely spoke. He wouldn’t have found much to say to many in the crowd, including the couple in front of me, whose brand of bad white people dancing rarely migrates beyond lawn seats at a Jimmy Buffett show. Those two would have made Farrar stop speaking altogether.
Instead, he greeted the crowd with a relentless take on “Bandages and Scars,” a rocking opener tempered by Farrar’s bittersweet vocals that always return to “Woody Guthrie’s words ringing in my head.” This might be Son Volt 2.0, but Farrar assembled a crack live outfit that match his crunchy brand of
Aside from surprise Uncle Tupelo ballad “Slate” and a new song from an upcoming Jack Kerouac documentary Farrar scored, the setlist ran down highlights of the last two albums, Okemah and the Melody of Riot and The Search. The albums’ mellower twists were largely ignored for Crazy Horse-style rockers infused with Farrar’s rustic lyrics.
Farrar isn’t afraid to go political on occasion, albeit with a little more tact than most musicians. His tune “Jet Pilot” admonishes the most famous veteran of the Texas Air National Guard.
Son Volt dug deeper for an encore of its best-known classics – “Drown” and the always gorgeous “Windfall” brought the house down, then Farrar attacked the masonry with a mammoth version of Waylon Jennings’ “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?”
Farrar might not have wasted time with small talk, but Son Volt didn’t waste a note all night.
No comments:
Post a Comment