It was a cold night in Atlanta the day after Christmas. I was not quite sure what I was getting myself into, but I planned on having a good time and that is how I try to approach any new or unfamiliar situation. When I attend concerts I anticipate having a good time singing along to the songs I know and nodding my head to the ones I don't. I also anticipate having my ears ringing for the next few days which is fine and comes with the territory. The featured attraction was Drivin' N' Cryin celebrating their 25th year as a band; formed in Atlanta in 1985 (one year prior to my existence on this Earth). To be honest I only knew three of the band's songs, "Fly Me Courageous", "Honeysuckle Blue", and "Straight to Hell." You would think that someone who grew up in the shadow's of Atlanta would know more but I didn't and that was my loss. Of all the three bands that took the stage that night, the one's I was least familiar with was the one's that had been around the longest, Drivin' N' Cryin.
Sons of Bill, a five piece band out of Charlottesville, VA, was a band I had been listening to for a few years courtesy of college roommate who was from the bands' hometown. They only took the stage for about 35 minutes but more than held their own with the two bands that were to follow them. Being a Sons of Bill fan I wish they could have played longer as there were a good five or six songs that were worthy of being showcased and I know the crowd would have enjoyed them. James Wilson, the lead singer for the band has a special talent for songwriting with such lyrics from their song "Broken Bottles" as "Hank Williams might have been a love-sick drinker/but being a love sick drunk don't make you Hank." Honestly I think the two best live songs that they performed were "The Rain" and the one they ended with off their very first album A Far Cry From Freedom "Far Cry." Which they just absolutely brought the house down with some epic guitar rifts that I salivate thinking of at this moment. Sam Wilson, the lead guitarist is another special talent. I hope this band can start getting the recognition that they deserve.
The next band to go on was Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit. A band I started listening to in the last year, courtesy of a friend who lives in the area where these guys are from. The band is based out of Northwest Alabama in the Shoals region of the state that is famous for its renown recording studio FAME Studios, which has seen such artists as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Duane Allman record their at the studio. Jason Isbell, the lead singer, is a former member of the band Drive-By-Truckers from 2001 to 2007. He played a mixture of some of his old songs from Drive-By-Truckers as well as some of the songs he has recorded as a member of his current band. My friend who is an avid music listener and knew all of the bands that had played that night in Atlanta feels that Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit had the best overall set of the three bands that played and that is no slight to either Sons of Bill or Drivin' N' Cryin'. Jason ended with "Decoration Day," a song he recorded with Drive-By-Truckers off their album Decoration Day, gave me goosebumps and electrified the crowd and set the stage for the featured attraction. Being on the front row you could just see the sweat pooring off Jason's face as he ripped through his set and you could really feel the passion behind the words in his songs.
Around 10pm the buzz was alive in that old church. It had been about 15 minutes since Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit had left the stage. The press corps inside the pit in front of the stage was at full capacity. The stage was dark. You could see the band walk out onto the stage then.... BOOM it began with one of their more well known tracks, "Honeysuckle Blue." I thought my ears were about to explode.
I did some YouTube searches of the band in the coming weeks before the concert to get familiar with their sound and some of their more well known songs. I expected the band to sound different from their youth, a "past their prime" kind of sound. Boy was I wrong. Kevin Kinney(who sounded like he did 20 years ago) and the boys put on one helluva show. What ensued over the next two plus hours is something that I won't forget for a long time to come. Ending with probably their most famous song, "Straight to Hell," which Jason Isbell and a cast of characters joined in to bring the show to an epic, guitar blasting, ear-rattling close.
What added to it for me personally was that my uncle who has known the main guys from Drivin' N' Cryin' since the very beginning was there in the pit taking pictures and video of the crowd. He made a comment to me how it had all come full circle for him. A band who had first formed before I was born. Me, one of the younger members of the crowd enjoying music that he had embraced over 20 years earlier, standing in the front row nodding my head and singing along to songs by guys that he knows personally. I thought that was cool and brought an interesting and memorable experience to it all. I like to think that I have a good taste for music and have an open mind to branching off and exploring new music. This will probably be one of the few shows where I really enjoyed all three performances and actually had a working knowledge of all the bands that played, some more so than others. I also found it interesting to note the age progression of the bands that played and how one band fed off and built upon the next. Sons of Bill is compromised of guys who are in their 20's and early 30's. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit is a band that appeared to be made of guys in their 30's. Drivin' N' Cryin' a band in their 40's if not slightly older than that. The real treat for me was seeing Jason Isbell join the stage for the last few songs of Drivin' N' Cryin's set. His talent on the guitar was readily apparent and it was such a treat for me to see. You could really feel the appreciation that all three bands have for each other. All of the bands are wonderfully talented and skilled in different ways. I hope people will continue to support bands like these so we can be fortunate enough to hear what talents they have to offer. Kevin Kinney, Tim Nielson, Mac Carter, Dave V. Johnson, and company thanks for making the night after Christmas a night to remember.
MB
Photos courtesy of David S. Barron amFILMS HD
Pretty dang good show if I do say so myself sir.
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