February 23 Drive by Truckers

At this point in their career the Drive by Truckers have an intertwined history with Boulder. Their shows have run the gamut. Under 100 people in attendance at their Tulagi and Trilogy appearances. Sold out and legendary in their Fox Theatre end of tour and New Year's Eve run of shows.

So, another evening with the Truckers at the Fox. Ho hum, right?
Or, god damn, the Truckers at the Fox. Shit's gonna hit the fan, right?

Sure, Boulder loves the Truckers, and yes this means healthy box office sales, but for me all bets were off. Hasn't Boulder become a cliche destination for them? Can lightning possibly strike twice or three times in the same place?

Apparently, lightning has an interesting way of attracting groups of people long after the smoldering remains have faded away. The crowd showed early for this show, meaning good positions came to those who were patient and persistent. I got there at doors but had to wait in a box office line to get my tickets. By the time I got in there were a few positions on the second riser to the right of the stage but all rail spots had been taken. No complaints, this is still a fine place to witness a show.

I hang and wait for Danny and Candace to show and Skye wanders over. Great to see this guy and we pass the time by catching up. He had gone the night before to the sold out show at the larger Ogden Theater. His take, "Great show but they had sound problems."

The Felice Brothers take the stage and proceed to electrify the audience. This band of brothers from New York produce 'American Music.' My grandmother probably would've called this 'rural music.' Banjo, Accordian, Washboard, Drums, Voice... but some of their lyrics are smart and current. They create a sound that is rough but full of joy and energy. They conjured images of what The Band might've looked and sounded like after Ronnie Hawkins but before Bob Dylan.

Once again I found myself very pleasantly surprised by an opener. They invited members of the audience on stage to join in 'Holy Holy Halleluia' - featuring an Ole Dirty Bastard rap.


Drive by Truckers turn the lights down and drop the cover for their backdrop. The red-eyed bird-beast sculpture is turned on and it seems we're all ready to go.

The band gets rolling straight away and kicks out a couple of new songs. I get the sense that they are easing into the evening, playing with deliberate emotional control and choosing carefully how far to push the energy.




The band rocks their way through a few more tunes and we are square dancing on the right hand side as the band works their way through some Jack Daniel's fueled angst.





By the time they take their encore break I am starting to wonder if they will reach the heights of previous performances in Boulder. Sure this evening has been nice, and their playing has been confident and tight, but it feels like they have been holding back.


Well the encore changed that opinion and quick. Patterson and the bottle of Jack set up shop center stage. Storytelling is what this band rests it's hat on and we are in for a heaping dose on this evening. I had been foolish to think that some how this band was holding back. They were were just making sure they had enough in the gas tank to go the distance.
Summoning his inner demons, Mr. Hood oscillated between gentle older brother to evil uncle to raging drunk and back all within a couple of measures.
The autobiographical nature of the lyrics seems to have a power over this band. It's not just that these lyrics are based on actual events and people, I get the sense that there is an internal pressure in the band to HONOR these experiences with gut wrenching performances. It isn't enough that the songs exist, the experience of the songs must act as a divining rod to harness and channel the white hot power of emotion every time they are played or inner demons will char and burn the heart.





The encore was easily the highlight of the Truckers set for me. Have I been 'converted' into a full blown mother trucker? Absolutely, but next time I would make sure I had a couple of shots of whiskey before show time. I get the sense that the emotional embers left on the stage at the Fox could definitely kick up into flames another time.