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Photo-pit chatter is fun. A lady, obviously a huge Jason Isbell fans, makes clear that if she were to see Isbell in a seated venue, she’d be paying over $300 for front row seats. With Isbell holding church at Atlanta’s Tabernacle for four nights – and a commitment to being first in line for the sold-out run – she prefers the bargain play of spending each night at the rail for $60. Four times the experience for less expense.
As Isbell sings of things southern and borrowing from regional football traditions, perhaps there’s Isbell Nation. It sounded like it on Saturday, his third of the Atlanta run. It takes a long time and a lot of work to build up a catalog to support four nights and a changing setlist, but it’s obvious from the start that the crowd isn’t there to check out an artist casually. They know the songs word for word, and they sing-a-long on almost every one of them.
“The Last of My Kind” was the first confirmation that the crowd was all in. “Super 8” might be a lesser tier Isbell song, but no matter. The crowd had it down. “I’ve heard love songs make a Georgia man cry” from “Amsterdam” is a heckuva way to play to the couples in attendance, a clear majority. For “Vestavia Hills” and “Alabama Pines” he could have just pointed the mic to the audience, shut his mouth and played along.
To the reader unfamiliar with that last phrase, it’s a reference to the Drive-by Truckers song he selected for the night, “Never Gonna Change,” as in “We ain’t never gonna change / We ain’t doin’ nothin’ wrong / We ain’t never gonna change / So, shut your mouth and play along.” That last is a hard phrase, decidedly anachronistic in these days, and intentionally misogynistic even when used decades ago. But it’s real, and that’s why so many of the songs speak to the audience. The themes may be universal, but there’s a southern angle to the stories he crafts filled with characters that might be you, might be someone you know, or someone you’re glad you don’t.
The concert itself was great from a performance standpoint. Isbell and guitarist Sadler Vaden faced off for lead guitar licks a number of times through the night, ironic in a way that Isbell was “The” guitar ace when he played with DBT. He’s got a sparring partner in Vaden and both obviously enjoyed those moments. Vaden also sang a great rendition of Drivin’ n’ Cryin’s “Honeysuckle Blue,” a band in which he was briefly a member, and each took turns playing scorching solos. Isbell by no means ignored the audience with chat, but it was obvious he enjoyed rocking out on this particular night.
And as many genres and subgenres as there are today, instead of labeling Isbell “Country,” maybe they should just label it “Southern” and leave it at that. Or, why not? “Southeastern.”
More photos follow.
Setlist:
Encore:
2 Responses
I don’t like Jason Isbell, or anything he stands for. What Tabernacle was he at …the satanic Tabernacle?
Isbell is the best songwriter of his generation!!! His live shows are awesome. Tight band, great musicians.