Photos by Ty Hyten
The Scene: Just beyond the Albertson’s parking lot we parked our car at Lowry’s premier Applebee’s rival, the Tavern Lowry. Below this chicken finger basket and artichoke dip destination lies the Soiled Dove Underground, a high-polish 300-person club. While having one of the most suburban locations imaginable, the little club is actually a pretty decent place to see a show and an especially ideal place for last Friday’s acoustic show with Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood.
Patterson Hood: The show started without an opener. Patterson Hood walked out on stage and picked up his acoustic guitar. In front of him was only a music stand and tables full of respectful forty-somethings. The atmosphere was casual, without pretense and felt more like a house show than a concert. Patterson seemed at ease, and provided short stories between songs with a southern drawl.
The night was a mix of ‘Truckers and solo songs with themes of war (‘The Sands Of Iwo Jima,’ ‘Old Timers Disease’) and alcoholism (’12:01,’ ‘Daddy Needs A Drink’).” Hood’s selections were mostly narrative-driven tales of the common man, through a common man’s voice – a bit horse, a little flat, and twangy. While that may sound like a critique, it’s actually part of what makes his music so great. When he sings about living through something, you believe it. Sitting there with just a guitar and a spotlight, his authenticity was undeniable.
Hood’s banter between songs was a nice juxtaposition to the heavy topics of his music. He spent a fair amount of time giving backstories on his songs. “Better Than The Truth” was introduced with a story about Billy Ringo, a real friend of his, who got shot while fishing and also managed to fall out of a window while smoking a bong. He also talked about recently giving the commencement speech at University of Northern Alabama, the college he flunked out of.
Upon request from an audience member, Hood talked about his acoustic guitar – a re-purposed children’s guitar from the 1930’s that he bought from Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes while they were in town at Red Rocks last summer. He also got some laughs with “The Night GG Allin Came To Town,” a “Truckers song about seeing shit-throwing punk rocker GG Allin live with Mike Cooley.”
Highlights included “Sink Hole” and a new unrecorded “Truckers song about violence against young black men” with references to Ferguson, MO and the Trayvon Martin shooting. He ended the night with two encores full of great songs. The first encore was preceded by a cheerful “merry Christmas motherfuckers!” and included “Back of a Bible,” “The Living Bubba,” “A World of Hurt” and concluded with what he said is the only Christmas song he likes – Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s “I Believe In Father Christmas.”
Energy: A
Musicianship: A
Sound: A+
Stage Presence: A
Set/Light Show: D
Overall: A-
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