Drive-By Truckers + Lucero + Langhorne Slim at House of Blues

In these days of bloated ticket prices and corporate-owned venues, it’s harder and harder to come by a show that truly feels like an event at an honest price. So when Drive-By Truckers announced their tour in support of The Big To-Do (released March 16), New England-based fans flashed Cheshire cat grins when they saw the following:

Friday, April 2, 2010
Langhorne Slim
Lucero
The Drive-By Truckers
$22.50 face value

And with such strong support, the Truckers' “Rock Show,” as Patterson Hood likes to refer to it, lived up to the bravado of their newest release's name.

The evening started out with Pennsylvania’s own Langhorne Slim and his four-piece band, which, at times, sounded much larger than the four men on stage. Floating around the stage with an acoustic guitar like a modern day minstrel, Slim delivered silky smooth poetic lyrics while drums, double bass and keys set the landscape. Working in folky ballads along with upbeat rockers, Langhorne Slim warmed the crowd as they trickled in for the evening. And for those who made it in early enough, Slim laid down gospel and sage advice during “Diamonds and Gold:” Get your hat/Get your coat, babe/Leave your worries on the doorstep/We’ve all got to get a little happy along the way. Fitting lyrics for such a celebratory evening.

Act II featured the critically acclaimed and well traveled Lucero. Lucero fans showed their support as the House of Blues floor got tighter, and the energy in the room amplified. Whenever I hear a Lucero song, I think, “I really need to get their albums,” but for some reason, I never get around to listening to them. I got the feeling there were a lot of people in the crowd who were in the same boat. But if anyone was on the fence about Lucero, it’d be fair to say they won themselves some new fans with a strong performance on Friday night. With cutting, road worn lyrics, a pulsing rhythm section, passionate keys, guitars and a three-piece horn section, we experienced genuine, heartfelt and soulful music. There are plenty of bands that can help round out a Drive-By Truckers bill, but on this particular night, I’d be hard pressed to find a better performance to get the crowd on the verge of eruption.

And they fell from the skies with the greatest of ease
And they landed on the ground under tents and trapeze
-- from "The Flying Wallendas" (The Big To-Do)

Live music at its best should temporarily relieve the day-to-day stresses of life. On Friday night, Drive-By Truckers successfully performed that very feat. With a decorative circus themed set, over a decade’s worth of material to pull from, and a communal bottle of Jack Daniels, the Truckers guided the rowdy, shit grinning, well lubricated fist-pumping crowd through Pizza Deliverance to its current release and everything in between.

Ironically, in the very music that elicits such joyous appreciation, DBT provides a unique perspective on some of the darker sides of life. The subject matter and characters in the DBT catalog aren’t exactly for the lighthearted. Let’s briefly examine some of the newer characters The Big To-Do has introduced: a stripper coming to terms with her current employment ("Birthday Boy"); the true story of a woman who shot and killed her preacher husband ("The Wig He Made Her Wear"); the uncertain whereabouts of “Lester” ("Drag The Lake Charlie"); and a family unwilling to compromise their way of living in the interest of The Big To-Do ("The Flying Wallendas"). And while most of DBT’s tales offer a glimmer of hope, optimism and perseverance, these aren’t exactly the shameless tearjerkers you’re going to see on the CBS Sunday Night movie.

Yet there we were, a couple thousand of us, reciting the lyrics word for word, participating in The Big To-Do with one of the best live acts on the planet, staring the ugliness right in the eye and seeing the beauty in it. It’s a tightrope the Truckers walk on a nightly basis. And while the old saying dictates "what goes up must come down," it wasn’t true on this particular evening. We witnessed a band that for over a decade is unwilling to compromise their interpretation of rock 'n roll and that takes an audience to the highest peaks: exactly what live music should do. The Big To-Do, indeed.

Setlist:
01. Drag the Lake Charlie
02. 3 Dimes Down
03. Road Cases
04. Uncle Frank
05. This Fucking Job
06. (It's Gonna Be) I Told You So
07. Get Downtown
08. Sinkhole
09. Birthday Boy
10. Girls Who Smoke
11. The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town
12. Women Without Whiskey
13. Nine Bullets
14. Love Like This
15. Hell No I Ain't Happy
16. Shut Up and Get on the Plane
17. Flying Wallendas
18. Lookout Mountain