Last night Baltar and I drove to Cleveland and back (yes, that's a couple hundred miles each way) to see the Drive by Truckers. It was the shortest set I've seen them play yet, and Patterson Hood was in a self-confessed bad mood and wanted to break the spotlights that were annoying him. Plus, instead of a Dirt Underneath show...
... it was rock show (bonus, if you look really closely, you can see me and Baltar getting sweat on, front fow center):
But shit, I can't complain. I've seen this band like ten times in the last year, and at every show I am still hearing songs that I have never heard live before.
And we're going again on Sunday night, for the last date of the Dirt Underneath tour.
The only band I've ever really been into seeing this consistently is the Flaming Lips, and frankly, their live shows have started to bore me a little because they haven't changed up their set very much since Yoshimi. Plus, with their newfound popularity, they are playing bigger venues, and huge festivals, which are really a lot less fun. I don't begrudge them their success. I am not one of those people to cry "sellout!" or say they aren't cool anymore. I still love their music, I just don't love the scene that develops when a band hits it really big.
That's one of the reasons I love DBT, and why I am filled with apprehension and hope at the same time. Look, Wayne Coyne worked at Long John Silvers for fifteen fucking years while the Flaming Lips labored to make it. I hope they are raking in the cash from their Dell deals and car commercials, and that Wayne and his wife can now afford the most premium kibble and expensive rubber bugs their dogs could ever imagine ripping to shreds. I hope that the DBT folks can make a pantsload of money and be comfortable. But the idea that we won't be able to see them in tiny shitty little clubs where I can stand this close to Mike Cooley, is kind of a bummer.
The short story is, I'm ambivalent about encouraging the readership here to go check 'em out. On the one hand, they're a great band, an amazing band, maybe the best live band out there, the band that will save rock and roll, at a very interesting point in the band's evolution, having lost (yet another) member, and both gained some perspective and reconnected with their roots. I want you to buy their music, and their shirts, and all the awesome posters that Wes Freed works up. On the other, I don't want the hipsters to catch on and hang around being indier than thou at shows.
Thank goodness we have like five readers.
Too bad I only had 2 1/2 hours of sleep after getting home from the show. Otherwise, this might be a little more coherent.
In any case, if you're close to the last couple of nights of the Dirt Underneath (NYC, DC), try to grab a ticket. They are still reasonable. And dig into the catalog (may I recommend the Dirty South or Southern Rock Opera) until the new record, Brighter Than Creation's Dark, comes out on January 22nd. And if you're into soul music, the DBT just backed Bettye LaVette on her latest album... good stuff. Otherwise, mark your calendars for the new year, when the record comes out and this touring band gets back on the road behind it.
And by the way, I've been thinking, since Armand and I go to movies, and Baltar and I go to concerts, the two of you need to come up with a hobby to do together without me.
Posted by binky at October 25, 2007 09:36 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Music