DBT MUTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah baby.

It's been a few weeks since I've posted. Been busy. I said I was going to do some more DBT stuff. That is correct sir.

As I advertized, I was going to see the Drive By Truckers in Macon. I did. It was great. ANYONE reading this should make a habit of checking their website to find out the next opportunity they'll have to see them. I hate when people talk about pop music in term of "authenticity" and "realness," but there isn't really another way to really explain what's so great about DBT without resorting that. They are one of the very few real rock and roll bands around. I don't know what I mean by that, but if you get the chance to watch Mike Cooley make silly faces at people while playing guitar solos for three hours, you'll agree.

As I hoped, they were in better spirits this time around. They were awesome last time, but they seemed a little burned out. This show was a much looser, goofier. . . happier show. Shawna kept grinning and winking at the audience. Patterson kept laughing and waving his arms around. Cooley floated around with his eyes closed, except when he'd make an exaggerated "guitar face" and roll his eyes back in his head. They were obviously about half lit up on whiskey, but they never missed a cue, musical or emotional. I was standing two feet in front of Cooley and Shawna.

It was heavy on the more humorous side of the band, which showcased a part of the band's personality that some of the "Southern Rock Opera" worship can obscure sometimes. When it comes to black humor, these guys are in the same league as Warren Zevon/Frank Zappa (more on Warren Zevon later). They started the show with "Hell No I Ain't Happy," which pretty much set the tone for the night. The cool thing about DBT is that they have such a deep catalogue and such a wild onstage presence that you never quite know what you are going to get. They aren't exactly a different band every night, but depending on the mood of the crowd and the mood of the band, they can play a pretty different show for any occasion. In Macon we were drunk and weird. I was standing next to ANOTHER big ole dude with a shaved head and a black t-shirt. People kept asking if we were brothers. Where was I. . . . oh yeah. . . the neat thing is that they played a show without "Sinkhole," "Putting People on the Moon," "Two Daughters and a Wife," "Heathens," "The Living Bubba," or a bunch of other great stuff, but we didn't miss it. This show was catered to a particular vibe. It was sort of perfect, even if it wasn't the definitive DBT show. There is no such thing as the definitive DBT show. That's why DBT is so great. This show was very different from the more measured performance they gave on "Austin City Limits," but just as good (seriously). I'm not the first person to note this, but what they really need to do is to put out a serious of concert albums ala Pearl Jam or the Dead that document the band on different nights. Or a big live boxed set with good shows from different periods of the bands history. (It's been a long decade for these guys. . . they've been through three different periods already.)

High points. . . . a rocking version of "The Company I Keep" which evolved, as it always does, into a goofy singalong ("sometiiiiiimes I feeeeel like SHIT!! Sometiiiimes it ain't the half of it!"). . . . "Dead Drunk and Naked" because that three chord riff gave us all a chance to headbang. . . "People who Died" because it's fast and morbid.

Alright then. . . that's enough of that. . .

In other DBT news, they put out a new record the other day. It's an odds and sods compiliation called "The Fine Print," and it'll end up being my favorite record of the year. Like most albums of this nature, it's got a couple of songs that wouldn't make the cut normally, but UNlike mose albums of this sort, most of it is fantastic. There are several songs that are as good as anything that DBT has ever done, like "Talking George Jones Cell Phone Blues" (which is what it sounds like, except it's a country rock song and not a talking blues song) and "When the Well Runs Dry" (one of Isbell's meditations about the performer's life. . .oh yeah, most of this stuff dates back to when he was in the band. . . this is mostly the "Dirty South" DBT), there are several GREAT covers which were done for various compilations or tribute albums, including a version of Warren Zevon's "Play it All Night Long" that songs pretty much like a song from "Southern Rock Opera" (and which includes Patterson yelling "SWEAT, PISS, JIZZ, BLOOD!!!) and a version of Tom Petty's "Rebels" that is waaay better than the original (which I have always actually liked, even it Tom Petty overproduced it. . . by the way, Tom Petty was working on that song when he got frustrated, punched a wall, and broke his hand so bad he almost lost the ability to play the guitar. . . don't do cocaine kids). Of course it also includes "Mrs. Klaus's Kimono," a weird novelty song about killing Santa Claus. It has lyrics about Santa having sex with a reindeer. It's nice to have it around, but it's not hard to figure why they hadn't released it yet.

Best song is Mike Cooley's "Great Big Horse," which is seems like something left over from "The Basement Tapes." It's a beautiful little song that was apparently inspired by a dirty joke. Figures.

Check this shit out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLP_r7NZY_w



And this is from the actual show! I was watching this from the bar. Capital needs to get more bartenders. This actually a pretty fun moment. Patterson is messing the crowd to see if he's gonna be able to do any softer stuff. Nope. Yeah, we got that he was ribbing us. That's Tift Merrit playing guitar. That's Jack Daniels in the bottle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH7zE3vICYY


I don't remember this at all. Beer memory. Capricorn Record's offices are down the street from where Patterson is standing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xp3cqDCnfY&feature=related



And here's the end of the encore:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF5nY_pC8c0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj8YxEqnGWM&feature=related


There are two big dudes who look like boulders jumping around in front of Cooley. I'm the littler one with glasses. That's David Barbe playing Bass. His band played down the street after the show and all the DBT went down. I got to meet them down there.


This is very unlike what they did in Macon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v5OiZ9C8zU&feature=related



That's enough DBT posting for a while. I think I'll write something about horror movies next.

Or about the "Big Surprise" show I saw in Nashville.