I’m totally bummed I missed the Drive-By Truckers’ last-minute gig at the Beachland Tavern last night. They played an epic three-hour set starting at 11:30 p.m. after being stuck in town with no concert to play (they’re opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on tour, but last night’s Blossom Music Center show was postponed). Luckily, Wesley Durham Roj was there to fill us in. —Michael Gallucci
Leave it to the grittiest outfit in rock & roll to pick up the pieces and create a truly memorable evening. Unwilling to accept defeat, the Drive-By Truckers hastily rerouted their tour bus to the tiny Beachland Tavern for an impromptu gig.
Singer and guitarist Patterson Hood introduced “After the Scene Dies” by exclaiming, “This is a song I wrote about playing in places just like this.”
The set started with some slower slide-guitar songs like “Women Without Whiskey,” but soon plunged into straight guitar rock (“Sinkhole,” “Get Downtown”) and didn’t let up for two straight hours as Hood and fellow singer-guitarist Mike Cooley jovially swapped turns on the mic.
The show was balanced and uncompromisingly energetic. By the time Cooley dove into the opening riff of “Marry Me,” more than two hours in, I pretty much wanted to hook up with every single one of them. —Wesley Durham Roj
Were you at the show? What did you think of it?
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This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2010.
…especially the bassist. -Wes
Had tickets to the Blossom show and made a last minute to decision to make the hour drive up to the Beachland Tavern for an 11:30 start time on a week night. The Truckers are one of the only bands going for whom I’d do that. We were well rewarded. That show encapsulated everything that is still good in rock n roll. As the kid in Almost Famous said – ”Incendiary”. God Bless the DTB. Rock on.