Grammy-winning alt-country mainstay Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit captivated a loyal audience Thursday evening with a two-hour set that spanned a 30-year career. Review, photos.
King of Meijer Gardens: Jason Isbell made his return to the amphitheater on Thursday night. (Photo/Adam Briggs)
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Few modern mainstream artists are as adept as Jason Isbell at articulating the specific, forlorn grief of realizing the disconnect of expectation vs. reality inherent in the American Dream™.
From childhood, we’re told that if we work really hard, stay true and have faith, the rest — a stable job, a comfortable home, a loving family — will fall into place. Good, honest people are rewarded for their efforts, and justice has a way of evening the scales.
But as the American wealth gap widens by the day, and regular folks must flip a metaphorical coin to decide between putting food on the table or keeping a roof over their kids’ heads, the dysphoria of living in an incredibly wealthy nation while barely scraping by can feel like a knife in the back.
This disappointment, betrayal and helplessness are among the themes that the Grammy Award-winning Isbell, a gifted lyricist by most any critic’s measure, is particularly skilled at bringing to life.
Isbell’s songs are particularly effective because he eschews a finger-wagging scold persona, and instead articulates the Everyman struggle with a sense of compassion, nuance and authenticity lacking in the vast majority of today’s mainstream country artists. And the fact he can write a solid melody? Icing on the cake.
Isbell brought his heartbreakingly beautiful/honest artistry to West Michigan Thursday evening for a return visit to the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park stage, in partnership with his incredible band, the 400 Unit.
Performing sans opening act, the Southern rock/Americana/folk/alt-country artist delivered 21 songs in a two-hour set that explored his 30-plus-year career, including nods (“Outfit,” “Decoration Day” and “Danko/Manuel”) to his Drive-By Truckers days.
Other highlights included “Live Oak,” “Alabama Pines” “Gravelweed” and the exquisitely existential love song, “If We Were Vampires.” But it’s hard to argue against “King of Oklahoma” as the pinnacle, with its Joyce Carol Oates-esque “show, don’t tell” lyrics and a powerful wall of sound.
Missed the show? Isbell performs at 7:30 tonight (July 24) at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Tickets, $54-$124, available online here.
UP NEXT AT MEIJER GARDENS: St. Vincent performs with the Grand Rapids Symphony and Arooj Aftab at 7 p.m. Sunday (July 26). Tickets start at $97, available online here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Adam Briggs
