It was a full night of earnest Southern Americana when Water Street Music Hall in Rochester hosted the Drive-By Truckers and American Aquarium on Tuesday, September 26.
American Aquarium got things rolling with a tight workman-like set, punching in right at the listed 8pm start time and finishing up at 9pm on the button. With little to no chitchat and little to no breaks, they muscled through 14 songs in their hour. They weren’t in a rush though, and each tune was given it’s proper due, with room to breath. BJ Barnham’s voice carried his words with the weight and passion they deserved.
A vision of his life as a singer/songwriter on the road, and the people and places he’s encountered along the way, unfolded song by song. And he usually wasn’t singing alone. The early-arriving crowd appeared to be as familiar and interested in the opening band as they were the headliner, singing, fist-bumping and genuinely hanging on the band’s every note. It was their first visit to town since 2014, but with that kind of welcome hopefully it won’t be another decade before their next return.
The Drive-By Truckers wasted no time laying their cards on the table. Set opener “Maria’s Awful Disclosures” introduced the first of many characters to make an appearance, and erupted into triple guitar shredding reminiscent of Crazy Horse. Lead singers Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley swapped songs for most of their two-hour set, each getting ample opportunity to tell their own modern-day allegories. Messages delivered on waves of searing guitars hit like a fist through the chest. Cooley’s “Maria” and her distorted guitar tangle gave way to Hood’s “Charlie” (“Drag the Lake Charlie”) and it’s more anthemic rock sound.
Later we’d hear about “Uncle Frank,” “Heathens,” “Women Without Whiskey” and “Rosemary With a Bible and a Gun.” Each song also took on a character of it’s own, spanning multiple flavors of rock: the deep dark blues of “The Driver,” the barroom banger “Surrender Under Protest,” the heavy rocking “Lookout Mountain.”
“Hell No, I Ain’t Happy” had a more traditional classic rock feel with its sing-along chorus, fist-pumping beat and dense hooks. Then they took Prince’s “Sign of the Times” and crashed it right into the end, turning it into an Allman Brothers Band southern rock gem, with syncopated guitars exploding into the biggest jam of the night.
The rest of the truckers helped flesh out the characters, stories and messages. Jay Gonzales was the swiss army knife everyman, filling in as needed when needed, with some perfectly placed Hammond B3 swells, electric piano sparkles and some of the best guitar playing of the night. Matt Patton kept the low end fresh and bouncing, smiling broadly the whole night long, no one was having more fun. Brad Morgan was as workman as anyone, providing the backbone for it all, helping the Drive-By Truckers deliver.
American Aquarium setlist: Me & Mine (Lamentations), All I Needed, The Long Haul, Casualties, St. Mary’s, Six Years Come September, Losing Side of 25, Saturday Nights, Abe Lincoln (Backsliders Cover), Harmless Sparks, Katherine Belle, The Luckier You Get, Wichita Falls, Burn.Flicker.Die
Drive-By Truckers setlist: Maria’s Awful Disclosures, Drag the Lake Charlie, Every Single Storied Flameout, Sink Hole, Uncle Frank, Heathens, Shit Shots Count, Why Henry Drinks, Women Without Whiskey, Pizza Deliverance, Panties in Your Purse, The Driver, Made Up English Oceans, Rosemary With a Bible and a Gun, 3 Dimes Down, Hell No, I Ain’t Happy > Sign of the Times (Prince Cover), Surrender Under Protest, The New OK, Gravity’s Gone, Lookout Mountain, When the Pin Hits the Shell, Shut Up and Get Off the Plane, Let There Be Rock
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