Jason Isbell – September 3rd – Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Photos by Jim Mimna

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit rolled into Red Rocks for what was to be a great Labor Day celebration.  The tour is supported by Isbell’s wife, Amanda Shires, and Aimee Mann, who both made note worthy marks on the night. Despite the crowd looking like they had had an exhausting holiday weekend, they were full of energy and extremely responsive; often times the only thing you could hear during the performance was the sound of people singing along like a chorus in church. Church is an accurate analogy as Isbell testified to the congregation who had gathered at the greatest music church in the land, and the message was received loud and clear.

The real story of this performance was two-fold, the first of an artist at the pinnacle of his game, and the other of a family man who has created a family band. First let’s talk about the artist at his best. Isbell’s songs have so much relevancy and touch so many people so deeply that it’s hard to believe he can do anything wrong right now. His vocals keep improving too – they are more consistent, on pitch, and well presented. Oftentimes his guitar work was the shining star musically in the songs and, despite his band being on point, there is little doubt that Isbell has got it all going on.

The second story of the night was the obvious love on stage. Isbell often sang the lyrics to the songs completely ignoring the audience and staring straight at his wife as he serenaded her with his words. If it wasn’t for the fact that this made everything so much more endearing, it might just be annoying, but love that real can not be discredited and songs like “Cover Me Up,” “Flagship of the Fleet,” and “If We Were Vampires” were so intimate that I found myself wishing I had a significant other with me. Looking past the lovefest, the rest of the performance was equally powerful.  His renditions of “White Man’s World” and “Children of Children” had so much emotional heft they were almost hard to absorb and I could barely contain myself. The entire event was a perfect Labor Day weekend finisher – if you missed it you should be ashamed!