A few weeks ago my buddy Buzzard and I made the trek to Vancouver to see Drive-By Truckers with Deer Tick and Thelma And The Sleaze play the Commodore Ballroom. My buddy Buzzard had never seen a show at the famous Commodore Ballroom, so when I saw this show announced, I figured it would be a great show to see there. Plus he had never seen the Drive-By Truckers in concert and they never come to Edmonton, so what the hell, let's go! And with Deer Tick being one of the openers was a bonus.
The first band of the evening was a three piece all female band called Thelma And The Sleaze from Nashville, Tennessee. I had never heard the band before so wanted to be sure to be at the venue to check them out. They were pretty good playing a punk/southern rock style music. Some of their song titles include "Ain't Ur Baby", "These Boots Won't Lick Themselves", "Cum", "High Class Woman". Their short 30 minute set went over well with those already at the venue up front and rocking out to them.
Next up was Providence, Rhode Island band Deer Tick who also are a three piece band. This would be my second time seeing them in concert, the last time being in 2012. I was looking forward to seeing them again, it had been too long. Though I haven't really cared much for their last few albums, live they are a kick ass rock n' roll band. Led by singer-songwriter and guitarist John McCauley whom has such a unique voice, on bass was Chris Ryan and holy shit is he a good bassist and rounding out the band drummer Dennis Ryan, brother of the bassist. Dennis also does lead vocals on some tunes, which I had totally forgot that he did.
Like I say, I haven't really been into their last handful of albums, even though I have bought them all but the last one that came out last year called Contractual Obligations. So a lot of the songs played in their our plus long set I didn't recognize, it was the older ones I really liked. Opening with an old song called "Easy" from their 2009 album Born On Flag Day, we were off to a good start. Then some songs I wasn't familiar with but thought they sounded great live. I will definitely going back to give these last few albums a listen to again. They also played the song "Art Isn't Real" from their very first album 2007's War Elephant. Another oldie was "Clownin' Around" which was awesome to hear. And the second last song of the set was a cover version of the Replacements song "Bastards Of Young" in which they fucking pulled off awesomely, John rocked the hell out of the song. A great set by Deer Tick that renewed my interest in this band.
Next up was headliners southern rockers Athens, Georgia's Drive-By Truckers. This would be my second time seeing the band in concert. Last time I saw DBT in concert was in 2011 in the same city and venue. Why Drive-By Truckers never come to Edmonton is beyond me, I'm pretty sure they would draw a good crowd. But seeing as they don't come here, it was a good reason to visit Vancouver and see a show and visit with my brother and friends.
The Drive-By Truckers are led by the two original members Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley both whom write the lyrics, sing and play guitar. The band opened with "Birthday Boy" from their album The Big To-Do. Second song into their two hour long set was a song I was really hoping to hear, that being "The Righteous Path" from the 2008 album Brighter Than Creation's Dark. The whole band sounded great with Mike and Patterson trading off on songs and sounding awesome. There were a handful of songs I really wanted to hear and am happy to report they played all of them. Those songs being "Hell No, I Ain't Happy", "Puttin' People On The Moon", "Ronnie And Neil", "Women Without Whiskey" and "Let There Be Rock", and the last three songs I just mentioned were all played back to back to back. Holy fucking shit, was that ever cool. By the time they played "Let There Be Rock" and no it's not the AC/DC cover, my buddy Buzzard and I had moved up right to the front of the stage. Oh ya, they did do one cover and that being the Bruce Springsteen song "Adam Raised A Cain". DBT did a great job of doing songs that covered a great portion of their catalog. Hard to believe this band has been around for over 25 years.
I'm not sure what the capacity is for the Commodore Ballroom, but my guess for this show would be around 900-1000 people, it really filled up by the time DBT hit the stage. A awesome show and a very quick two hour set. They could have played longer and don't think there would be anyone complaining. All and all am very happy that we made the trip to Vancouver for this show, it was well worth it. Good times!!!
T-shirt front.
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