DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS at The Phoenix, Wednesday, June 15. NXNE. Rating: NNNN
Country rockers Drive-By Truckers motored through a sizeable chunk of their huge catalogue in a two hour set that left vocalist/guitarist Patterson Hood dripping with sweat.
Hood and Mike Cooley switched off on lead vocals, launching into song after song without breaks – one would start playing guitar before the final notes of the previous song rang out.
The songs leaned to the heavier side, with I Do Believe off of Go-Go Boots sadly omitted, and on the louder stuff vocals got totally lost in the mix. That said, DBT put on an energetic show, and the songs went over well fans chanted for an encore and were rewarded with material that they knew, singing every word of the familiar material.
The quieter, more soulful stuff was beautiful, including Eddie Hinton cover Everybody Needs Love, bassist Shonna Tucker’s song Dancin’ Ricky and crowd favourite A World Of Hurt.