Drive-By Truckers@9:30 Club

Drive-By Truckers
9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
July 23, 2010

When Drive-By Truckers scheduled a show in Washington on a night off from their current gig as the opening act for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, I couldn’t help but think of it as a make-up date.

The last time the band rolled into the nation’s capital, in February 2009, singer/guitarist Patterson Hood was knocked flat, and out of commission, by a wicked case of walking pneumonia. The band played on, for two nights at the 9:30 Club, featuring almost exclusively the songs of Hood’s fellow singer/guitarist/partner in crime, Mike Cooley. The fans didn’t seem to mind, as both shows were well-attended. Nonetheless, it seemed like DBT would probably try to do something as a thank you to those who kept the faith.

Like playing for the good people of D.C., rather than taking a night off.

His absence wasn’t directly mentioned until well into Friday night’s sold-out return to the 9:30 Club, but Hood set the tone for the night the moment DBT took the stage. Grabbing his guitar and spreading his arms wide, like he was ready to bear-hug the first row, Hood shouted into the mike, “Goddammit, I feel good!”

It showed.

For almost three sweat-soaked hours, DBT tore through all corners of its catalog during a 27-song set, featuring plenty of new cuts from the band’s latest album, “The Big To-Do.” Although they varied the tempos, mixing the slow, sweet ones in with the three-guitar barn-burners, they definitely put the rock into the Rock Show.

It wouldn’t be accurate to say that there wasn’t an acoustic guitar in sight, as there was one parked on Cooley’s guitar stand back by the drum riser. But that’s exactly where it stayed.

For the most part, the material from “The Big To-Do” was as strong as the back-catalog favorites. Show opener “The Fourth Night of My Drinking” and “After the Scene Dies,” about a rock club falling victim to gentrification, were Hood highlights. “(It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So,” sung by bassist Shonna Tucker, was strong and well received (though her vocals were too low in the mix). Cooley’s cocky shuffle “Get Downtown,” complete with honky-tonk piano from Jay Gonzalez, really got the crowd fired up, as did most of Cooley’s turns at the microphone.

The night was thoroughly crowd-pleasing, from “The Fourth Night of My Drinking” to the blistering, show-ending cover of Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died.” The high points in between were too many to mention here. Among the longtime staples played were Cooley’s “Where the Devil Don’t Stay” and Hood’s “The Living Bubba,” which featured elegant pedal steel from guitarist John Neff, who made tasteful contributions on steel and electric guitar throughout the night. Neff’s versatility really makes him the group’s unsung hero, as he proved over and over again.

Hood even honored a request for deep cut “The Tough Sell,” and the band, always respectful of their musical heroes, knocked out a soulful cover of the late, great (and underappreciated) Eddie Hinton’s “Everybody Needs Love.”

Whether the full-tilt set was a makeup for last year’s impromptu lineup change could only be answered by the band. You could never tell just by watching, as few bands bring DBT’s energy or stamina to the stage night after night.

One band that carries that reputation is Petty and the Heartbreakers. And it was easy to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers’ influence on their summer tour mates. During fan favorite “Let There Be Rock,” Hood’s autobiographical ode to salvation through rock and roll, the bearded singer, by this time drenched in sweat, his previously gray shirt black as midnight, added a timely update to the song’s customary introduction. As the band played behind him, Hood told of talking a buddy into selling his motorcycle and buying a bass so they could form a band in 1979. That combo’s name: Breakdown, taken from the Petty hit from ’78.

Another parallel presented itself as a striking visual. As DBT returned to the stage for the encore, Hood was wearing a black top hat. He was playing the role of ringmaster, attired appropriately for the lush waltz about the famous high-wire family “The Flying Wallendas,” and in keeping with the circus imagery associated with “The Big To-Do.” Still, you couldn’t help but think back to Petty regularly sporting a top hat in his 1980s MTV heyday. The choice of lids was probably pure coincidence, but the similarities are not. In sickness and in health, Drive-By Truckers are cementing the type of legacy only the great ones leave.

Setlist
The Fourth Night of My Drinking
Where the Devil Don’t Stay
Drag the Lake Charlie
72 (This Highway’s Mean)
The Living Bubba
Panties in Your Purse
The Opening Act
Get Downtown
(It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So
After the Scene Dies
3 Dimes Down
Hell No, I Ain’t Happy
When the Pin Hits the Shell
Your Daddy Hates Me
Sink Hole
Birthday Boy
The Tough Sell
Buttholeville/State Trooper (Springsteen cover)
Zip City
Let There Be Rock
Encore
The Flying Wallendas
Women Without Whiskey
Everybody Needs Love (Eddie Hinton cover)
Marry Me
Puttin’ People on the Moon
Shut Up and Get on the Plane
People Who Died (Jim Carroll Band cover)