Ignoring a few sprinkles, the singer-songwriters and their talented bands combined for three hours of top-notch, rootsy alt-country.
‘Southeastern’ Celebration: Jason Isbell marked the one-year anniversary of his acclaimed album. (Photo/Anna Sink)
By John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com
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Although not quite polar opposites, Wednesday night’s Jason Isbell-James McMurtry concert at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park unfolded in stark contrast to Santana’s season-opening spectacle at the outdoor amphitheater.
Umbrella Power: A few scattered rain showers had some folks covering up. (Photo/Anna Sink)
The second show in the summer series opened amid light sprinkles of rain and cool temperatures in an amphitheater a bit more than half full – a far cry from the intense sunshine and near 90-degree weather that greeted the sold-out crowd of 1,900-plus on opening night.
Fans on Wednesday also paid about 80 percent less for tickets to witness a compelling display of rootsy Americana and alt-country unfurled by two singer-songwriters with a near-genius capacity to turn a phrase and incisively portray the underbelly of life, love and pain.
It began with an engaging hour-long set by the Austin-based, 52-year-old McMurtry, who happens to boast an album (appropriately enough) with the title, “Walk Between the Raindrops.”
Accompanied by his Heartless Bastards band, McMurtry proved that few artists tell tales about earthy, colorful characters caught in life’s rough-and-tumble trials quite the way he does – from “Choctaw Bingo” to “Hurricane Party” – with a bit of a drawl and a Texas-styled, Americana rock bent.
Austin Tunesmith: James McMurtry opened the concert. (Photo/Anna Sink)
As Isbell would later crow from the stage, McMurtry is “about as good with a phrase as anyone out there.”
But Isbell proved definitively that he’s no slouch in that department either, his strong, engaging voice powering through nearly two hours of inspiring songs taken mostly from his most recent album, 2013’s “Southeastern” and 2011’s “Here We Rest.”
While not particularly demonstrative or exuberant on stage, Isbell nonetheless delivered his top-drawer songs in heartfelt, enthralling fashion with tasteful guitar leads and a band that clearly embraces his music and colors it with the right shades of melancholy, angst and muscle.
ROBUST ENCORE AND NODS TO DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
They did it as the sprinkles ebbed and the sun peeked through the clouds, and then again, as rain returned during a robust encore that concluded with a rambunctious, crowd-pleasing rendition of “Super 8,” with umbrellas bobbing and wet fans gyrating gleefully.
Sad Songs, Upbeat Demeanor (Photo/Anna Sink)
The Alabama native drifted into pure country territory with tunes such as “Alabama Pines” and “Codeine,” along with giving nods to the Southern rock/alt-country band with whom he spent six years, Drive-By Truckers, performing songs such as “Outfit,” “Never Gonna Change” and a riveting version of 2003’s poignant “Decoration Day.”
Indeed, Isbell’s often desolate material includes songs – “Cover Me Up,” “Traveling Alone,” “Codeine,” “Elephant” – that are so inescapably good, so tenderly forlorn, so cleverly crafted, you can actually feel the words physically as he performs them for a warmly appreciative crowd.
“I know a lot of these songs are sad songs,” he said at one point. “I made ’em up, so they make me sad, too. But let me tell you that people who write happy songs are the most miserable sons of bitches. There’s all this anger they’ve got bottled up inside.”
Isbell’s upbeat on-stage demeanor and gracious attitude belied the nature of those songs, and he even acknowledged a couple of cheery milestones on Wednesday – drummer Chad Gamble’s birthday and the one-year anniversary, to the day, of the release of the critically acclaimed “Southeastern.”
“The record’s been out a year,” he said, “and I can’t think of a better place to have this celebration.”
Several hundred wet fans were happy to oblige and join the party.
Isbell and his band played for nearly two hours. (Photo/Anna Sink)
THE HIGHLIGHTS
The touching “Decoration Day” built to a powerful, rock-infused instrumental climax led by guitarist Sadler Vaden, with “Cover Me Up” oozing tenderness in a classic Isbell sort of way. But the band’s incendiary version of Drive-By Truckers’ “Never Gonna Change” near the end of the main set was a real triumph and a crowning moment of the evening.
THE BANTER
“This next one is a country song. I know that because I wrote it.” – Isbell, before performing “Codeine”
“I told her she should probably listen to some Gordon Lightfoot.” – Isbell, in describing an 8-year-old fan at a previous concert who knew all the words to the dark song, “Live Oak”
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music
