Rock and Roll Weekend

I'm not really sure if calling it a rock and roll weekend is 100% accurate since only a couple of the acts I saw were technically rock and roll but, with a show every night, it felt like the rock "work hard, play hard" mentality anyway.


Night #1 The Rock n' Roll Means Well Tour
The Drive By Truckers/The Hold Steady
Coyotes at City Block, Louisville, KY
October 30, 2008


When I accepted my new job which made my move back to Louisville possible, I made some calls to tell family and friends then went home and immediately bought these tickets. No place to live, but by golly, I had concert tix. And, though I alluded in another post to the resultant prom flashbacks brought on by not being able to find anyone to go with, once I made it there I really wasn't thinking prom. (I'm still figuring out how to go to shows by myself-in places where you sit it's not so apparent and so is more easily done-but in standing only places it can be awkward. I bring my handy dandy pocket notebook so that I have something to do, though I realize it makes it less likely someone will approach me.) Coyotes is too adult to carry any prom vibes and DBT would have been far too cool for Mercy Academy circa 1986. I sat at a table behind 2 of the beer girls (there is one big bar and then a few other elevated stations so no one was too far from or had to wait too long for booze) and was treated to a near constant cheeky display every time they bent over to get a bottle or point out the restrooms. (yowza) Thank goodness they were wearing underwear-of a sort.


The bands were in fine humor, downright ebulliant, which also helped scare away the 'oh woe is me' loser blues. The co-starring tour was their idea so their long distance friendship and admiration could be further cemented and it led, happily, to spirited and relaxed performances. I was glad DBT opened up the catalog and didn't feel they needed to focus so much on songs from "Brighter Than Creation's Dark". (I like it but it's not my fave.) I thought "Lookout Mountain" , "Sinkhole" and "Let There Be Rock" were standouts, especially the last with just the right amount of sermonizing from Patterson Hood.

I was not familiar with The Hold Steady at all but their live show made me wanna get familiar fast. Their music is nothing if not immediately ingratiating. Though their sound is much different in attitude they seemed to have much in common with DBT.

Night #2
Justin Townes Earle
St Francis, Louisville, KY
October 31, 2008

After the embarrassment of bumping into Justin and coming up empty in the words department (previously noted) I was kinda tempted to take it as a sign but I persisted and am I glad I did. (I just need to stop arriving so geekishly early, these things pretty much never start on time.) Justin, with his sideman and partner in crime Cory Younts, put on a terrific show. As one audience member put it, "it put the treat in Halloween". They are both amazing players, it totally blew me away how much and how many sounds just two people can make. Yeah, it was in a parish hall (not what you call an impressive light show but the trophy case made a fabulous backdrop) and my butt started to hurt during the opening act but once Justin started playing, I forgot all the rest. During the dark times last year I leaned hard on his record-I think several of the most melancholy songs are probably now embedded in the drywall of my old studio-and yes, hearing them live did make me cry. On the other extreme, the interplay between the two, and the audience, made me laugh. I wished there had been more people, with only 20 people there it was almost too intimate. (There was no music between acts and with no roadies I felt kinda bad just sitting there, like I should carry an amp or something.) Song highlights included "Lone Pine Hill" (the Civil War song Scott Miller wish he wrote), a new very personal song about his parents that he did not share the title of and a charming 'where did THAT come from?' cover of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" that made me almost fall, squealing, from my chair. (It's on YouTube, check it out.)I'm still smiling when I think about it. Without a doubt I gotta say seeing this show was the smartest $7 I've spent in some time.