Concert Review: Drive-By Truckers at the Truman

Drive-By Truckers gave a 1,000 rubberneckers an unflinching tour of "Buttholeville" on Friday.  Hearing the Southern rock band tear into the song about a desperate man cleared the cobwebs in my head, snapped me out of a post-vacation malaise and restored my faith in rock and roll.

While I wasn’t quite as forlorn as the resident of “Buttholeville” who is “tired of my job and my wife Lucille, tired of my kids Ronnie and Neil” and fantasizes about the “day I'm gonna get out of Buttholeville, gonna reach right in, gonna grab the till, buy a brand new hat and a Coupe de Ville” when I bought a $28 ticket at the Truman, I was in a pitiful state.  Unshowered, unshaven and feeling like the meanest man in Kansas City, I was questioning my decision to hear similarly grizzled middle-aged men play outmoded music.

Yet when Patterson Hood hugged his bandmates at the conclusion of the wooly rendition of “Buttholeville,” I was inclined to jump the barrier to embrace the Alabama man for not only redeeming my night, but for redirecting me to the path of righteousness.


---
The Ben Miller Band’s Choke Cherry Tree is a roots-rock tour de force.  RIYL: Drive-By Truckers, the Ozarks, ZZ Top.  "Akira Kurosawa" is my jam.

---
Chris Dave and the Drumhedz is the initial viable contender for my favorite album of 2018.  RIYL: Erykah Badu, sidemen made good, Anderson Paak.

---
I’ll never be too cool to admire the moldy fig swing of saxophonist Scott Hamilton.  The lovely trio recording Live at Pyatt Hall is RIYL Ben Webster, feeling unfashionable, Johnny Hodges.

---
An outing by the Marmozets was my #14 show of 2014.  The new album Knowing What You Know Now nearly replicates the band’s ferocity.  Here’s "Major System Error".  RIYL: Bring Me the Horizon, convulsions, early Paramore.

---
Chinese Butterfly, the absurdly convivial 95-minute recording by the Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band, is fusion-licious.  Lionel Loueke’s fresh contributions make the throwback sound work.  RIYL: Return To Forever, excess, Billy Cobham.  Here's "Like I Was Sayin'".

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Ray Price, 1926-2013

Now blue ain't the word for the way that I feel…

I had a rocky relationship with my dad.  The outlaw country of Waylon, Willie, Kris and Bocephus was one of the few things we could agree on.   My dad also kept a more conventional hits collection by Ray Price in regular rotation.  I've continued to love those songs in the two decades since my dad died.  I saw Price for the first time at Knuckleheads in 2007.  Although I was "working," I shed simultaneous tears of joy and grief during much of the legend's vital concert.  Here's a representative performance.  Price died earlier this week.

---
I reviewed concerts by Steel Panther and Stone Temple Pilots.

---
I played music by Terri Lyne Carrington, Bobby Rush, Brandy Clark, Frank Wess and Stik Figa on KCUR's Up To Date yesterday.

---
Guitarist Dave Higgs, a founding member of Eddie and the Hot Rods, has died.  (Tip via Big Steve.)

---
My favorite tracks on the The 12 Days of Christmas (and Voting) compilation are by the Doo-Dads and Making Movies.

---
Because the Internet is the first Childish Gambino recording that speaks to me.  RIYL: emo rap, sad guys, Kid Cudi.

---
I can't stop thinking about last month's spectacular Kanye West concert.  An intriguing detail- ambient music including Burial's "U.K." provided the low-key soundtrack to the construction of the imposing mountain that served as West's backdrop.

---
There will always be a place in my life for albums like Scott Hamilton's Swedish Ballads… and More. RIYL: Ben Webster, moldy figs, Coleman Hawkins.

---
"As the Palaces Burn", the new documentary about Lamb of God, looks great.

---
Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)