The clouds parted ways and the last micro shower of rain dampened the grounds of the Bell’s Beer Garden around 7:30 pm, a half-hour before the scheduled start of the Drive-By Truckers/Lydia Loveless concert. Sunday night in downtown Kalamazoo was abuzz with good vibes and anticipation of the rock show. Slobberbone, Centro-Matic, and Bottle Rockets tee-shirts were spotted in the nearby bars and on the sidewalks. Tales of past DBT shows were the topic of conversations over PBRs, IPAs, and well-whiskey-&-cokes.

Bell’s is the oldest existing craft brewery east of Colorado. It’s practically sacred ground in these parts, though other great Michigan breweries like Short’s, Founders, and New Holland are always nipping at its heels as the state’s favorite. The Beer Garden sits behind the Eccentric Café, the home-base for lovers of Bell’s since 1993. Cold pints in hand, we took our place up near the front, said hello to the inevitable random friends who share our affinity for the Truckers, and paused to appreciate the fresh, steamy air and sunshine. If the show wasn’t sold out, it was damn close. There were 50 tickets left that morning, and I imagine they were gobbled up.

Lydia Loveless, a Pencil Storm favorite, meandered out from stage right a couple minutes before 8pm, strapped on her teal-blue Telecaster, and broke into a new song (?) to kick off the night. This was my fourth time seeing her, including the two times we opened for her near Detroit, and the first without her band, or at least guitarist/sidekick Todd May accompanying. Even solo she filled the Beer Garden with her vocal dynamics and reverb & delay-drenched guitar and piano. Her strengths are her voice and her songs, but she’s a fantastic pianist, something new to her stage show, and no slouch on the guitar either. Any humorous, self-deprecating insecurity between songs is quickly erased with confident, soaring vocals.

Highlights for me were “Out On Love” from 2016’s Real (my co-album of the decade), and “Love is Not Enough” from 2020’s Daughter, a standout track from another fantastic record. A couple new songs were introduced to the set, and the next record is looking to be as good as the last few. DBT’s Jay Gonzales came out and accompanied Lydia on keyboards for the last song, “Poor Boy” before the house music came back on, bringing the set to a rambunctious ending and setting the stage for what was next. A fantastic and very memorable set from Lydia Loveless, and a great opener for DBT.

The first of the 17 times I’ve seen the Drive-By Truckers was exactly 20 years and one day before this show; July 25, 2002. It was the Southern Rock Opera tour, their first with young upstart Jason Isbell on guitar, at a sparsely attended but highly inebriated Lager House in Corktown Detroit. I told Patterson Hood that night, “Don’t give up on Detroit,” and he promised they wouldn’t (and they didn’t), but this was Kalamazoo, and in those 16 previous times, they weren’t always a home run. Some records and shows connected with me more than others, but that’s to be expected from a group as prolific as the Truckers. Still, they are my favorite band that’s formed in the last 25 years, and second only to Cheap Trick as the band I’ve seen the most (not counting the combined various iterations of Bob Mould’s career). After each one of those little valleys, they’ve always won me back over with a great show or an album that tops my best-of list at the end of the year. Their last three records are some of their finest, and their Detroit show in October was fantastic.

The sun set as the Truckers took the stage. Mike Cooley, every-so-occasionally-once-in-a-while a bit cantankerous, walked up to the front of the stage with a big smile and uncharacteristically waved enthusiastically at the crowd. “Cooley’s in a good mood!” my wife proclaimed, with a smile and just a hint of confused relief. (He’s not that grumpy, really, just don’t stand in a crowd of bros with backwards baseball hats and Bud Lights chanting USA! USA! beneath his mic before they take the stage, as we saw in New Orleans a decade or so back. Who could blame him for being annoyed?)

They broke into “Shake and Pine” from their latest album Welcome 2 Club XIII and we were off. One of my favorite Cooley songs, “Birthday Boy” was second. The sound was great – clear and raw, very full but not too loud. A far cry from the Majestic Theatre in Detroit 9 months prior, where bands often sound like a stereo at 10 with only the subwoofer on. Matt Patton’s Fender P-bass was as clear as I’ve ever heard it, easily covering all the lows, but still contributing to the melody and backbeat of the songs. His ear-to-ear smile was ever-present, enjoying each moment of every gig as he bops back and forth with the beat.

It’s easy to gripe about a DBT setlist because there’s always something you didn’t hear that you wish you did, but with 14 albums to choose from, there’s just no way to cover everything, and the bonus is you always get those surprises you didn’t even expect. I was hoping for a couple more from The Unraveling, my album of the year in 2020, or my all-time fav Southern Rock Opera, but at the same time so elated to hear a couple standouts from The Dirty South – “Where the Devil Don’t Stay” and “Tornadoes.” Welcome 2 Club XIII was heavily represented, of course, with an extended spoken-word intro from Patterson about Kalamazoo, Bell’s, the Muscle Shoals-Detroit connection we talked about in the parking lot of the Lager House 20 years and 1 day prior, and the background of Club XIII. That song would fit in right next to anything off classics The Dirty South or Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, proving that while the Truckers continue to re-invent themselves, they still remain true to their sound.

Two hours and twenty minutes later they left the stage one-by-one over the outro chords of “Angels and Fuselage” from Southern Rock Opera, the closing number that recalls the final moments leading up to and just following the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash. Patterson and Cooley waved and exited, almost like Mick and Keith meeting at center stage to say goodnight, the two leaders clearly still enjoying what they do, then Patton, drummer Brad Morgan, and finally, after a haunting couple rounds on the organ, Jay Gonzales. There was no need for an encore – that’s the way a show should end. Everyone around us just looked satisfied and happy. It was perfect.

Photos: JP & TrooperGirl22

The Drive-By Truckers remain as viable, fun, rocking, and relevant as ever. There’s a sense that despite a great string of albums behind her, Lydia Loveless is just getting started, with even better material in the works, that amazing voice and delivery leading the way. The rock show is alive and well, and we’re very grateful for each of these artists.

Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
www.thetucos.com
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Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic

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