On the first gorgeously sunny summer Friday in NYC during 2019, the Drive-By Truckers pulled into Brooklyn Bowl for the second night of their “Six Pack” set of shows. The group has found a northern home in the gorgeous Williamsburg bowling alley with Mike Cooley mentioning midset that he has lots of memories from playing the venue over the years.
Before the main event however, Craig Finn, backed by his Uptown Controllers, started the night with his communal performance of sad songs as the slow arriving crowd filed in. No stranger to the venue, Finn was at home opening with the dramatic “Be Honest” before distorted keyboard work and harmonicas accented the pulsing “Blankets”. The upbeat drums helped move “Maggie I’ve Been Searching For Our Son” along with its cult dissection lyrics while “Preludes” found Finn returning to his hometown of Minneapolis. The set was tight and well received and there was clear mutual appreciation between the openers and the headliners as Patterson Hood was out in the crowd taking pictures and clapping along.
When Hood and the rest of the Truckers strolled onto the stage to the strains of “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” the band jumped ahead a few shows via “The Fourth Night of My Drinking” to kick off the second of their six pack. The massive twenty-five song set touched on all aspects of their career and made a strong statement that DBT are one of the best American bands out there.
The highlights arrived often; the ripping solo from Cooley to close out “3 Dimes Down”, the pounding drums from Brad Morgan on “Feb 14”, the acoustic guitar and warbling keyboard interplay on the fantastic “English Oceans” were just a few as the band was in top-notch Friday night form. Even a vocal flub from Hood during “Drag The Lake Charlie” was met with cheers as Patterson admitted he fucked up with good humor.
The biggest crowd reactions came during the amped up “Marry Me” which featured excellent six-string work from Jay Gonzalez and the heavy metal attack of “Sink Hole”, both got the fans roaring with delight over tales of bad decisions, dissolving familes, spiritual questioning, suicide and murder. The band mentioned the great opening set before inviting Finn to help sing lead on the Bruce Springsteen cover of “Adam Raised A Cain” which revved like a seventies muscle car.
The powerful electric guitars took over for the latter half of the show as the punk spiked “Where The Devil Don’t Stay” punched ahead, the majestic “Tornadoes” swirled with textures and the wah-wah/chicken scratching of “Goode’s Field Road” just may have been the highlight of the whole evening as the keyboard work from Gonzalez paired well with the powerfully sad tale.
Closing with the Southern Rock Opera pairing of “Shut Up and Get on the Plane” and “Angels and Fuselage” the bands two hour plus set was a master class in rock and roll and did not need an encore as the group triumphantly waved goodbye as the feedback droned and a piano outro ended the night.
