Drive-By Truckers @Rhythm and Brews, Chattanooga 4/12/11

The first time I saw the Drive-By Truckers was at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga circa June 2004. It was right after Decoration Day came out and Jason Isbell joined. A friend had burned me Alabama Ass Whuppin, a live cd, so I somewhat knew what to expect. But I just couldn't have predicted before that show how much pure pleasure and southern pride I would get from seeing them live then and all the countless times since.

But like most things tend to, the Drive-By Truckers have changed over the years. Isbell left and has since done 3 solo albums and Muscle Shoals legend Spooner Oldham joined them around the Dirt Underneath tour in 2007, followed by Jay Gonzalez. Ultimately, they have calmed down a bit, if not musically definitely in their subsequent live shows. Maybe I am just bias ever since Isbell left because since 2008 I have probably seen Isbell play 3 or 4 times as much as my beloved DBT. And I haven't been that into the albums since the 2008's Brighter Than Creations Dark, much less The Big To Do or Go Go Boots.

However, DBT was coming back to Chattanooga's Rhythm and Brews. This is as close to a hometown show as they will get outside of Alabama in my opinion. Chattanooga really really loves this band. I missed the openers because apperently the show started hella early, but when I got there around 9:45 it was completely packed out, with people driving from all over the South to see them play. The theatrics weren't there like on the Dirty South or Dirt Underneath tour. But musically it was they were on point. Still.. I missed some the excessive drinking/rocking out that I had always seen in their lives shows. I can't tell whether they are just showing their age or they are just more subdued. They played a lot of new stuff which was honestly pretty good, but that meant less of the classics I have known and loved from the years. It's hard for me to love this version of the Truckers when I am still so blatantly mourning the old days, the era Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell pretty much equally shared in the vocals (and I am sorry to say this, Shawna Trucker stuck to bass) and every show had your adrenaline pumping, your ears ringing and you begging for just one more. All and all, this was good show. Just not as wild and awesome as when I saw them there in 2005. Then again, maybe neither am I.