Son Volt @ 9:30 Club

Son Volt
Oct. 21, 2005
9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.

Jay Farrar doesn't appear to spend much time looking back. He left alt-country poster band Uncle Tupelo at the height of its popularity in the mid '90s. Granted, it wouldn't generate Eagles-type dollars, but we don't hear even the slightest reunion rumors. He immediately formed Son Volt and tasted success in the alt-country and alt-rock worlds with three albums between 1995 and 1998 before putting that band on a long and thought-to-be-permanent hiatus. After a series of increasingly complex and decreasingly accessible solo albums, Farrar brought Son Volt back – albeit with a new lineup.

If Farrar cared what fans thought of the change, it wasn't apparent at the outset of Friday night's show. The first five songs were from the new Son Volt disc, "Okemah and the Melody of Riot." Overall, the band played 11 of the 12 different songs on "Okemah," plus the non-album track "Joe Citizen Blues."

The new lineup, consisting of Derry Deborja on keyboards, Dave Bryson on drums, Andrew Duplantis on bass and harmony vocals and Chris Frame on lead guitar, sounded like it had been together for years instead of one tour. They still faced an uphill battle to win over some fans simply because they weren't the classic Son Volt lineup of Mike Heidorn on drums, Dave Boquist on guitar and Jim Boquist on bass and harmonies. One fan, after spotting my reporter's notebook, sidled up and remarked, "You can sum this show up by saying that everybody is fuckin' waiting to hear [1995 rock radio hit] 'Drown.' " Before I could tell him that he'd probably be waiting a while, he added, "And it'll be the last song, at 2 a.m."

But open-minded fans likely thought this touring band acquitted itself well. With no disrespect intended to the original Son Volt, you could put a number of competent musicians around Farrar's well-crafted songs and sonorous baritone and get pleasing results. Regardless of the supporting players, it's always been abundantly clear who is steering the ship, which is a vehicle for Farrar's songwriting.

"Okemah" is a reference to Woody Guthrie's birthplace, and Farrar certainly has incorporated the protest spirit into his new material. "Jet Pilot," which was paired with "Endless War," is a thematic cousin to John Fogerty's "Fortunate Son," and takes a none-too-subtle jab at President Bush. Subject matter aside, the new songs exhibit a return to country-informed rock influenced by bands such as Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Farrar seemed pleased, too. Nobody is ever going to confuse him for the gregarious Bono on stage, but he really appeared to be happy to be fronting a rock band again. While far from chatty, he thanked the crowd on several occasions. He dug into a stinging guitar solo at the end of "Medication," and he blew a pretty fierce harmonica solo on "Damn Shame," which was a damn nice compliment to Frame's searing slide guitar.

Despite the concentration of "Okemah" material, Farrar was more than willing to give the fans, even the more casual ones, what they came for. Crowd participation increased with each tune from the classic Son Volt albums "Trace," "Straightaways" and "Wide Swing Tremolo" – songs such as "Medicine Hat," "Loose String," "Route," "Caryatid Easy" and "Tear Stained Eye." And as my fellow concertgoer predicted, the crowd surged at the first strains of "Drown" (though he was off on the time; it was only 1:05 a.m.).

The regular set ended with one more cut from "Okemah," "Afterglow 61." In the three-song encore, Farrar passed out the Halloween candy a week early with the "Trace" classic "Windfall," a cover of the Clash's (covering Willie Williams) "Armagideon Time," and finally Uncle Tupelo's "Chickamauga." Judging by the chorus of fans singing along, he couldn't have picked a much better closer. The lyrics suggest that it was a pretty appropriate choice for Farrar, too:

Chickamauga's where I've been
Solitude is where I'm bound
I don't ever wanna taste these tears again.

After wringing the last notes out of this piece of his past, Farrar handed his guitar to a roadie, gave a wave and a hint of a sheepish grin and walked off the stage.

He didn't look back at the audience again.

Setlist
1. Who
2. Bandages & Scars
3. 6 String Belief
4. Atmosphere
5. Gramophone
6. Medicine Hat
7. Back Into Your World
8. Joe Citizen Blues
9. Damn Shame
10. Feel Free
11. Barstow
12. Loose String
13. Chaos Streams
14. Live Free
15. Picking Up The Signal
16. Jet Pilot
17. Endless War
18. Route
19. Caryatid Easy
20. World Waits For You
21. Tear Stained Eye
22. Driving The View
23. Medication
24. Drown
25. Afterglow 61
Encore
26. Windfall
27. Armagideon Time (Willie Williams/Clash cover)
28. Chickamauga