Concert Review: Old 97s

 I saw one of my favorite bands this week - The Old 97s. Of interest, Rhett Miller has a brand new album out but here he is with his band (and only giving himself one song for the setlist). As big of a fan of the band I am, Miller’s solo stuff is a bit too pop for my tastes.

The opening band was the Vandoliers. Now while the stuff I checked out of theirs beforehand wasn’t really to my tastes, we’re a very fun live band. I would have to describe them as a “Cowpunk” band. I realize that this is a term that gets more broadly used to describe Americana in general, but the band really sounded like the bands of that genre in the 80s like Jason and the Scorchers and The Long Ryders.

The band recently opened for Flogging Molly and weirdly there are also similarities with that band as well, with a fiddle and a horn in the band.

As far as the 97s, I’m a fan, but definitely would say it was a Top Tier concert based on music and crowd interaction. I have been looking at their set lists and they seem to vary it every night. 22 songs which covered 10 of the 12 albums (their classic Too Far to Care getting the lion share), and a cover of “Mama Tried”.

The band came out to Devo’s “Gut Feeling”. Frontman Miller, seemingly impervious to age. Part 80s Steve Earle, part Robin Zander, and part Bradley Cooper. it’s possible to imagine an alternate universe where Miller, Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams are bedroom pinups.

While with age, Murry Hammond is edging more in Bun E Carlos territory. Ken Bethea and Phillip Phillips meanwhile look like rock lifers but are part of what is surely an underrated band when calling out the individuals members. It is tempting to focus just on the charismatic Miller, but there is a real REM type quality to the band and its parts.

The band had great rapport with the audience. Bethea telling a story of walking on the Des Moines River bridge (and picturing being a victim of a 48 Hours-style demise.). Miller claiming he wrote “Turn off the TV” off Twelfth in Des Moines. (He may claim that at every concert locale but it seems to fit)

Anyway, great show. Definitely recommend to see them if they come to your town

• Won't Be Home

  Niteclub

  Jesus Loves You

  The Other Shoe

  W. TX Teardrops

  Oppenheimer

  Champaign, Illinois

  Turn Off the TV

  Big Brown Eyes

  Good With God

  Mama Tried

  Go Through You (Rhett Miller song)

  Rollerskate Skinny

  Stoned

  Let's Get Drunk & Get It On

  Barrier Reef

  Smokers

  Four Leaf Clover

  Doreen

  Longer Than You've Been Alive

  Murder (or a Heart Attack)

  Timebomb