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| photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch |
Raw, in-your-face, powerful and poignant are all words that come to mind when reflecting on Son Volt's robust 26 song career-spanning set Friday night at the packed Turner Hall Ballroom. Son Volt is about as straight forward of a band as you're going to find on the Americana scene today. There are no video screens, no fancy light shows, no lengthy jams, and very little stage banter from Jay Farrar and his band mates. However, with the power of the music played Friday night- no gimmicks or extras were needed.
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| photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch |
Farrar and company are touring in support of
Notes of Blue, the veteran band's 8th LP release. Son Volt knew it's crowd well and played a show that juxtaposed new material right along side classic cuts from all eras of Jay Farrar's musical career. Set opener, "Cherokee St" from
Notes of Blue started the evening out on a loud and ruckus note, followed by the power chord heavy new number "Lost Souls." Moreover, Farrar featured "Damn Shame," a personal favorite of mine from his often underrated solo
Sebastopol release in 2001 where he collaborated heavily with Steven Drodze of the Flaming Lips. Fans of the narrative heavy, alt-country masterpiece
Trace (1995) were treated to a fair share of tracks off of Son Volt's iconic debut release including "Catching On," "Ten Second News," "Route," a rousingly reflective rendition of "Drown," and a beautiful "Windfall" in the first encore.
Speaking of the encore, Farrar dusted off some classics performing several timeless Uncle Tupelo numbers which stand up as well today as they did 20 plus years ago. "Still Be Around," (from the 1991 Uncle Tupelo album
Still Feel Gone,) felt relevant and sincere. Moreover, "Graveyard Shift," (off of 1990's epic
No Depression debut release) had a sense of urgency as it may have in its hay day, as did encore closer "Chickamaunga" from 1993's
Anodyne release. A final encore number showcased Son Volt covering Velvet Underground's 1969 classic, "What Goes On."
Impactful and emotionally heavy, Son Volt proved that great Americana music can be loud and ruckus and, above all, meaningful and fun at Turner Hall.
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photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch
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