Bottle Rockets’ Fabulous 15th

Bottle Rockets
Iota, Arlington, Va.
Sept. 6, 2008

Midway through Saturday night’s show at Iota, Bottle Rockets singer/guitarist Brian Henneman recounted one of the band’s brushes with the big time. More than a decade ago, while his bandmates were on a post-show snack run in a gas station, Henneman tuned the radio to a local rock station. He caught the tail end of Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” and as he relayed the story, he embellished it by playing a snippet of the staccato riff on his guitar. And the next tune to come blaring out of that late-night FM dial? Henneman cranked into the Bottle Rockets’ “Radar Gun.”

After playing “Radar Gun” for the fired-up club crowd, Henneman pointed out that the Bottle Rockets didn’t go on to Van Halen-type success. But, he added, there were a number of benefits to relative anonymity, including:

No band members in rehab.
No ex-wives as spokespersons for Jenny Craig.
Never having Gary Cherone (or Sammy Hagar) as a lead singer.
Not having one of their kids playing bass in the band.

As the Bottle Rockets proved over and over during this fine show, one of 15 on their 15th Anniversary Tour, the small time suits them just fine.

Henneman and Co. (Mark Ortmann, drums; John Horton, guitar; and Keith Voegele, bass/vocals) aren’t cut out for arena tours. Their brand of roadhouse rock is best experienced up close and personal. They may have earned their stripes during the alt-country movement of the mid-’90s, but the Bottle Rockets are an honest-to-goodness rock and roll band. They’ve got as much in common with St. Louis homie Chuck Berry as they do with Johnny Cash. And if you don’t believe me, check out their “Take Me to the Bank,” which is lifted directly from the Berry songbook. (And if you still don’t believe me, go to their Web site, bottlerocketsmusic.com, and check out their “What the hell is Alt Country” T-shirt, spotted in the crowd Saturday but not for sale at the merch table). Labels aside, they do Chuck and Cash proud, and seemed genuinely pleased to be playing before a small appreciative crowd rather than shouting out to a stadium. The feedback of the fans is part of the equation.

On this tour, the Bottle Rockets are encouraging fans’ input. They’re running a set-list contest, in which fans submit to the Web site message board a dream set list comprising 20 Bottle Rockets songs and one cover song. The winner gets 20 extra entries in an end-of-tour drawing for a “Bottle Rockets for Life” merchandise and ticket package or a custom guitar that Henneman is playing during the 15th Anniversary Tour. If a contestant’s set list isn’t used but their choice of cover song is played as an encore, they are awarded 10 extra entries in the giveaway.

It’s easy to see why Saturday night’s set list was chosen. (Well done, “midnight snack,” whoever you are). Not only did the show draw from all of the band’s albums, it also touched on their range of styles. “Man of Constant Anxiety” is raucous rockabilly. “Dinner Train to Dutchtown” is built on a bluesy riff. “Nancy Sinatra” could have been (and probably still could be) a hit for ZZ Top. Country (alt and otherwise) is a key element of “Love Like a Truck,” “Get Down River” and “Indianapolis,” to name a few. The cover choice, Wilco’s “Passenger Side,” was well done, in part because Voegele sounds quite a bit like Jeff Tweedy.

Though the Bottle Rockets are commonly thought of as a bar band, the quality of the songs really is too good for that label. Henneman is an underrated lyricist, and he carries himself with the attitude of an underdog, like Neil Young fronting Crazy Horse. Songs such as “Kerosene,” “Welfare Music” and “Zoysia” are plainspoken but poignant. The rocking lives up to the quality of the writing, too, as they showed on tunes from their radio-play heyday such as “1000 Dollar Car” and “24 Hours a Day.”

Styles will come and go, but the Bottle Rockets’ brawny brand of rock has never been passé. While it’s unlikely to get them to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it has earned them a devoted following likely to turn out whenever they come to town. And, as an added bonus, that next tour won’t be an overhyped reunion with David Lee Roth.

Set list
Man of Constant Anxiety
Dinner Train to Dutchtown
Nancy Sinatra
Alone in Bad Company
Love Like a Truck
Sometimes Found
I'll Be Coming Around
Feeling Down
Take Me to the Bank
Kerosene
Get Down River
1000 Dollar Car
Indianapolis
Smokin 100s Alone
Radar Gun
Gravity Fails
Happy Anniversary
24 Hours a Day
Passenger Side (Wilco cover)
Mountain to Climb
Zoysia
Encore
Wave That Flag
Shame on Me
Welfare Music
Waiting on a Train
Pot of Gold