Drive-by Truckers - Brighter than Creation's Dark

Cherry Ghost wrote:

Tour kicks off tonight in Anaheim. Anybody heading to the show?

Me, I have to wait 'til they get to NYC/Philly...

I can't wait to see the setlist. It looks like they played a lot of songs off the new album during their 3 nights at 40 watt. Maybe just to practice, but who knows. Either way I love the new songs; I just hoep to get more than a couple of old songs when I see them.

Cherry Ghost wrote:

Tour kicks off tonight in Anaheim. Anybody heading to the show?

Me, I have to wait 'til they get to NYC/Philly...

No, decided not to make the monday night trek up to Anaheim. I'm regretting it already, it's been a year and a half since I've seen them last.

It was awesome... was gonna go to bed, but with the interest in a set list, I'll post the songs soon... but I'll make these general statements:

Get there early and see the Felice Brothers - they are a lot of fun...

Shonna holds her own...

ABAAC was almost non-existent...

NakedClown wrote:

Setlist, review to come tomorrow:

(In no particular order - may be missing one or two)

Lookout Mountain (opener)
Three Dimes Down
I'm Sorry Houston
Self Destructive Zones
Homefield Advantage
Opening Act
Home Front
Checkout Time in Vegas
You and Your Chrystal Meth (better live than I anticipated)
Goodesfield Road
Ghost to Most
Gravity's Gone
Carl Perkins Cadillac
Sinkhole
Ronnie and Neil
Let There Be Rock
Women Without Whiskey
Shut up and get on the plane
Living Bubba

I'm sure I'm missing something, but I didn't write things down...

Buttholeville (closer)

Wicked choice of songs. I hope there's a few songs missing. Seems like a short set.

I am probably in the minority here but i felt the new album could have benifited by trimming down the songs and picking maybe 12 or 13 of the best songs.

There aer probably about 7 or 8 songs i really love and another handful i thought were good. The others seem to get lost in the shuffle to me.

Those 7 or 8 i like i do enjoy a lot though.

Great looking setlist from the show mentioned. They are always good live.

One more note on the Felice Brothers: Listening to their stuff on the way home, I was having trouble pinpointing them or comparing them to anyone, but here's my best go of it: A young Billy Joel + Bob Dylan + DBT = The Felice Brothers.

And there was some drama during the NMA set - your typical "girl thinks guy hit on her, boyfriend gets involved, guys talk it over and realize girl was just drunk, shake hands, etc. - then girl tries to make amends with the other guy and he wants no part, she gets upset and her boyfriend drags her off to cool down. It's a shame, but typical... there was also a guy who pissed the bartender off and was almost kicked out... and then really got kicked out when the bouncer saw him recording the show.

As for DBT, they didn't fail to deliver and played for a good two hours despite what looks like a shorter setlist (although maybe I'm forgetting something? Really didn't drink that much, so that's not why...). Patterson did say he had Laryngitis - or LarangEEtis, as he called it.

They are so fucking good, and with all do respect to Jason Isbell, John Neff and Spooner Oldham just add so much to the band. They opened up with Lookout Mountain and it was on - Ghost to Most, Home Front and Living Bubba also came early on in the set. I really should have written it down but A) I didn't want to be "that guy" and Then I couldn't hold my beer. By the way, I did see "that guy", so I know a setlist is floating around somewhere. Although he didn't seem to be having as much fun and may have in fact been a reviewer.

Lots of industry-types in the room, and a good share of older fans who were rocking out up front. I was able to stay within the front 4-5 standing rows of people all night, it was cool.

Cooley: What can I say. I made sure to stand on his side as its his stuff that I've been getting into more lately and he didn't disappoint. The man looks like the devil when he's up there playing with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, the lights flashing behind him and the smoke coming through. He fucking killed Women Without Whiskey. Made my night. "women without whiskey... whiskey's hard to beat!"

Three Dimes Down, Checkout time, and Shut up and get on the Plane were also highlights.

I may have a thing for Shonna now. I like her albums on the record but was STILL skeptical about what she would bring to the live show - she was great. "I'm sorry Houston" was wonderful and she rocked the bass all night. Not as big of a fan of Home Field Advantage, but it worked well live.

Patterson played his role of the proud papa and didn't let his illness effect his singing, although you could kind of tell it when he spoke between songs. Sinkhole was my favorite - they played this and Women Without Whiskey back-to-back and it was clearly my favorite sequence in the whole show.

The crowd was good, but these fucking L.A. crowds (I'm not a native, so I can say that) - the cheer for an encore was pathetic. I almost lost my voice chanting DBT but only one other guy near me picked up the chant. It took the guitar tech coming out to pump up the crowd, but even then it was pitiful. This may have been why they played a shorter encore (three songs), or maybe Patterson's voice was really giving out. I don't know.

But he killed Opening Act when he came back out - and Shonna's backing vocals on that track towards the end are stellar, although she got a bit lost in the mix at that part.

So many things, so many nuances, etc. I'll post as I remember them throughout the day. After many aborted attempts I am glad I finally got to see them, even if i was by myself - had a great time.

Wish I could see them tonight here in L.A. (I'm just in Glendale) but I have to work and should save the cash. Was hoping for an L.A. in-store somewhere but I haven't heard anything.

I don't have to work until 3 - I'll keep my ears open - ringing and all.

(And yes, David Barbe, Marc ford and Luther from NMA came out and jammed during Buttholeville)...

RL:

It's something I don't get - these guys are so fucking good - and yet its hard to convince people to go. I couldn't even get my wife to go.

So now I can say I went to a concert by myself, but god it was worth it...

NakedClown wrote:

RL:

It's something I don't get - these guys are so fucking good - and yet its hard to convince people to go. I couldn't even get my wife to go.

So now I can say I went to a concert by myself, but god it was worth it...

I've been going to shows by myself for awhile. Mrs. Merkinball doesn't like to go to as many shows (and someone has to watch the kids), and I figure I can see 2x as many shows for the money.

According to the "Top 40 Albums" in the back of the latest Rolling Stone magazine, "Brighter than Creation's Dark" hit the charts @ #37....moving 16,132 copies in its first week.

Awesome.:)