Prompt: "The oldest song you actually like"
Selected by Nate
"Slow Ride Argument"
Drive-by Truckers
The Unraveling, 2020
The first time I saw the Drive-by Truckers it was in 2008, right around when Brighter Than Creation's Dark came out. The Hold Steady opened the show, the Truckers closed it. They played "Keep On Rockin' in the Free World" as the closer. It remains one of the best concerts I have ever seen, one of the most meaningful and cherished live show memories that I have (though the memories are not crisp, since a whole gang of us got loaded at my house beforehand and continued to get loaded at the show). I think Joe has blogged about it, if not directly than in passing mention a couple of times. [Editor's note: I wasn't at that show, though I've definitely blogged about seeing the Hold Steady, and I've blogged about this song.]
The last time I saw the Drive-by Truckers it was 2020, and Gilson and I schlepped out for a weeknight show. Those among you with advanced degrees will clock that we were much older this time out, so it was not so much a rip-shit party as it was a warm appreciation of a band that continued to kick ass on stage. The Unraveling had just come out and "Slow Ride Argument" was my immediate favorite, equal parts unhinged and even-tempered, capturing perfectly the moment right before a fight turns into a Big Fight, or before a Big Fight turns into Some Shit You Can't Take Back. It's small in its scope on the song, but in the context of the album, which is about the goddamn nation coming apart, it takes a different color. It was cool as hell to see it live. About ten days after that show, COVID-19 was a national concern, and I was glued to the daily 1 PM Philadelphia news update about the pandemic spread.
The moral of the story is, sometimes you see a great Truckers show that makes you tell your girlfriend you love her for the first time, and sometimes you see a Truckers show that acts as a herald for global calamity, but only the Truckers can put on the kind of show that makes the risk worth it.
The last time I saw the Drive-by Truckers it was 2020, and Gilson and I schlepped out for a weeknight show. Those among you with advanced degrees will clock that we were much older this time out, so it was not so much a rip-shit party as it was a warm appreciation of a band that continued to kick ass on stage. The Unraveling had just come out and "Slow Ride Argument" was my immediate favorite, equal parts unhinged and even-tempered, capturing perfectly the moment right before a fight turns into a Big Fight, or before a Big Fight turns into Some Shit You Can't Take Back. It's small in its scope on the song, but in the context of the album, which is about the goddamn nation coming apart, it takes a different color. It was cool as hell to see it live. About ten days after that show, COVID-19 was a national concern, and I was glued to the daily 1 PM Philadelphia news update about the pandemic spread.
The moral of the story is, sometimes you see a great Truckers show that makes you tell your girlfriend you love her for the first time, and sometimes you see a Truckers show that acts as a herald for global calamity, but only the Truckers can put on the kind of show that makes the risk worth it.
1 comment:
That 2008 show was an all-timer. Langhorne Slim even kicked ass as the opener!
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