To fans of alt-country rockers the Drive-By Truckers, band’s two principal songwriters have long been known as the Dimmer Twins. The backhanded reference to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ “Glimmer Twins” is somehow fitting for Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, who each bring a completely different style of singing, songwriting, and playing to the music. Each has also amassed a massive body of songs and embarked on the occasional solo tour. Yet somehow, in the 25+ year history of the Drive-By Truckers, Cooley and Hood have waited until now to tour together. Billed as “No set lists, no game plan, just 2 gtrs, 2 microphones, 2 assholes and a case of beer,” the Dimmer Twins tour hit the East Coast in April, and on May 9th the duo came to Portland, Oregon’s Revolution Hall for the second show of their brief West Coast jaunt.
With a cooler stocked full of beer and liquor nestled between them, Hood and Cooley took their seats and welcomed the crowd. This being a hometown show for Hood, spirits seemed high from the get-go and he jumped into “Grand Canyon” with its vivid lyrics about heading West. Cooley took the reins with “Carl Perkins Cadillac”, letting the lyrics shine in the acoustic setting. The model for the night would be one song from Hood and one from Cooley, switching off throughout. As most fans know, Hood likes to preface his songs with sprawling tales of the events that inspired them, whereas Cooley is a man of few words and lets his lyrics do the talking. This dynamic created some of the funniest moments of the show, as Cooley would often throw in one word during Hood’s stories to completely derail them and get the crowd laughing their asses off. The beauty of the performance was seeing certain songs stripped down, like the slower version of “Heathens” and Cooley delivering one of the most emotionally poignant performances of the night with “Space City”.
Few would argue that acoustic is better than a full on Drive-By Truckers rock show, but it was refreshing to see how talented of a guitarist Cooley is on songs like an extra sinister and spooky version of “Sinkhole” with its chugging riffs, and really cutting loose on “Gravity’s Gone”. A few songs later Hood would show off his own guitar chops with an impressive solo during the always catchy “Self Destructive Zones”.
Reminiscing about growing up in Alabama led to Hood singing a new Truckers song called “Welcome to Club 13”, which he lovingly dedicated to the seedy club of the same name. The nostalgia would continue to flow with the darkly humorous “The Night GG Allin Came to Town”. Loosened up and feeling good, the duo would get into some of their darkest tunes with “Where the Devil Don’t Stay”, “Tornados”, and Cooley’s heartfelt “A Ghost To Most”. Hood would share the story of “Pauline Hawkins” as being inspired by a novel by his friend, writer and Portlander Willy Vlautin. Cooley’s “Birthday Boy” – normally a fiesty rocker – was played bare bones, offering a more intimate contrast on the longtime fan favorite. Both songwriters would touch on gun violence with the newer song “Thoughts and Prayers” and “Ramon Casiano” before making a statement about the sad state of our country with brand new song “21st Century USA”, hinting at a forthcoming Truckers album. Cooley would lighten the mood with a rousing take on “Zip City” as his final song of the night.
“The Living Bubba” proved to be a proper finale as Hood sang the chorus “I can’t die now ’cause I got another show to do”, closing out the night on a high. Coming in at two hours with plenty of solos and rowdiness, the Dimmer Twins set was most definitely a rock show even if the only instruments happened to be acoustic guitars. But what made it extra special was seeing two hugely talented songwriters putting the full breadth of their writing on display in such an intimate setting. We may not get another Dimmer Twins tour anytime soon, but based on the standing ovation of fans in Portland, it seems demand will get these two out on the road again.
All photos by Greg Homolka.
