The second night of The Dimmer Twins mini northeast tour on July 23rd saw the duo play the gorgeous City Winery on Manhattan’s west side and while it wasn’t a sold-out show, the vibes were positive as fans and artists were happy to be back playing and watching live music. With rising COVID rates and a year plus on lockdown, each night gathering for live music is a little more special at the moment.
With that celebratory feeling in the air, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley took their Drive-By Truckers tunes on a scaled-down spin using only acoustic guitars as the heavy strumming started on the opening number of the night, the scenic “Grand Canyon”. While the band normally is at home turning up and blasting loud through amps, the acoustic setting allowed them to deliver some nuanced playing. There was Hood’s angular aggressive solo on “Zip City” and his tuned down bass-like runs on “Pulaski” while Cooley picked gorgeous lines during “Heathens”.
Trading lead vocals from song to song, the duo delivered tunes from every era of their catalog. They looked back to their Pizza Deliverance days with “Bulldozers and Dirt” and sang their newer socially conscious songs like “Watching The Orange Clouds” with passion. The sweet sadness of “Sounds Better in a Song” and the restrained stomp of “Ronnie and Neil” both were excellently deployed.
The duo complements each other incredibly well when Cooley took over lead vocals for songs like “Marry Me” or “Ghost to Most” Hood supported with backing vocals and strong runs on the fretboard. Cooley returned the favor while Hood sang lead for “Tornadoes” and “Why Henry Drinks” as the pair expertly flowed from tune to tune with a smile and an easy sense of joy.
The night ended with a three-song encore as the duo discussed some of their histories before “Love Like This”, explaining that the Truckers have been playing for 25 years while Cooley and Hood have been at it together for 36 as they keep on rolling, telling stories about Club 13 from back in the day and wrapping up with “Shit Shots Count” and “The Living Bubba”. There was no feedback and no fear on this night as Cooley and Hood ran through their strong catalog with an impressive drive.
