DBT's Live Shows with and without Jason

[guinness]

I never had the opportunity to see the band while Jason was a member. For those of you who have, how would you compare / contrast their live shows with and without him?

[emandrisdad]

I liked them better, it opened up more of the catalog and I find him to be a more dynamic presence than Neff. I was just thinking this when
I saw the clip from the documentary.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Two different beasts entirely. With Jason they always seemed to teeter on the edge of sheer chaos but could capture near perfection more often than not. The current band, however, is tighter than a duck's ass and brings their A game nearly every night. Honestly I don't know that I think one is better than the other.

[cortez the killer]

I'm not sure I'd use the term "better," but I enjoyed the Isbell lineup more.

[drtpants]

I'm not sure I'd use the term "better," but I enjoyed the Isbell lineup more.

That sums it up for me.

As for comparing and contrasting. TC is correct that they are much tighter now. The flipside of that is the Jason era band had a gritty low end (musically, psychologically) that's not there any more. When Jason left a lot of interpersonal tension was relieved, an obvious statement that I only make here to point out that with that also went a measure of artistic tension which was pretty damn compelling. There was a life or death quality to it back then that you could get high off of on certain nights. That's still there but it's taken on a different form. It's still great and neither superior nor inferior to what was. Same old dog, different tricks.

[Iowan]

I'm not sure I'd use the term "better," but I enjoyed the Isbell lineup more.

That sums it up for me.

As for comparing and contrasting. TC is correct that they are much tighter now. The flipside of that is the Jason era band had a gritty low end (musically, psychologically) that's not there any more. When Jason left a lot of interpersonal tension was relieved, an obvious statement that I only make here to point out that with that also went a measure of artistic tension which was pretty damn compelling. There was a life or death quality to it back then that you could get high off of on certain nights. That's still there but it's taken on a different form. It's still great and neither superior nor inferior to what was. Same old dog, different tricks.

That's interesting, and while I didn't discover the band until right around the time Jason left, I've noticed this exact same thing while watching the 40 Watt DVD, for example.

The part I think is interesting about that, is since Jason left, his music has become much less "gritty" than the music Cooley and Hood are putting together.

[Clams]

I didn't come aboard until after Jason left either. One difference I see, musically, is that the pedal steel seems to take the edge off certain songs, Women Without Whiskey for example, that seem to have rocked a lot harder with the three guitars. Then there's the obvious loss of stage presence. Jason's got the swagger and stage personality whereas Neff is more of a Clapton type - just stand there and show your (incredible) chops. The biggest difference though, to me at least, is the addition of songs like Gonna Be I Told You So, Homefield Advantage and I'm Sorry which, while they are good songs, don't really make up for the loss of Jason's DBT-era and solo stuff in the set list.

[drtpants]

I didn't come aboard until after Jason left either. One difference I see, musically, is that the pedal steel seems to take the edge off certain songs, Women Without Whiskey for example, that seem to have rocked a lot harder with the three guitars.

Women Without Whiskey is an excellent example. I have my biases, because I got into them when TDS came out, which I think is their hardest rocking album, pound for pound if you will. As a consequence of that and a lot of other things, that incarnation of the band live was pretty much looking to beat your fucking ass to dust and melt your face every night. They still rock plenty hard but it doesn't have that bludgeoning quality to it that is used to. Cooley, Hood and Isbell used to draw blood some nights. This incarnation of the band doesn't do that as much. And that's okay. Hell, it's probably a good thing. I guess the bottom line is that I don't miss it but I sure did love it.

[Cubfan06]

I agree with the assessment that they are tighter now then they were with Jason, not by a whole heck of a lot though. Isabell had so many great tunes and his song writing style was so different then Hood and Cooley's. It was always nice to hear those nuggets thrown into a show and really added more diversity. I'll always miss those shows, but was lucky enough to catch plenty that he was a part of. But my first experience seeing the Truckers was on Decoration Day and then the Dirty South, and those were unmistakeably epic albums. So the setlist had absolutely no fat to them. I can't, however say the same for the tour on A Blessing and A Curse. Their stage prescence didn't seem as happy during that one and although it could be perceived, I often caught troubled looks between Isabell and the other band mates. It wasn't at all a surprise when he was no longer a Trucker. The last 40 Watt show I saw with Isabell was in November before he left the band. Neff was playing slide behind him and his end seemed in inevitable. When you take into account that Jason is a solid slide player, it had to somewhat bother him that Neff was taking up some of the reigns. And at that November 40 Watt, show I remember Jason seeming bothered to the point where his interest and playing didn't seem where it once was. He might have felt like his feet were getting stepped on. But this is all perceived opinion by me and belongs in another topic. It was once great though!


That being said John Neff is a fucking beast and Jay's textured playing adds a completely different element to the band. And they seem as happy now as they have ever been. And it shows in their tight playing.

[rawkshow]

Two different beasts entirely. With Jason they always seemed to teeter on the edge of sheer chaos but could capture near perfection more often than not. The current band, however, is tighter than a duck's ass and brings their A game nearly every night. Honestly I don't know that I think one is better than the other.

I think that's a great way to describe their differences! I go back & forth on the which, if, one is better & i can't choose. With Jason, they were more rocking & he's def got more stage presence that Neff but the band is so tight & on nowadays, that i can't say the earlier lineup was better. Just a little different.

[Monty610]

I miss Jason, but I still love the current lineup.

Going to see Isbell on Saturday to get my fix on his Trucker catalog...

[beantownbubba]

The last show I saw w/ Jason in the band was the least great DBT show i've seen, so while that's probably not a great example of one line up v. another, it's another vote for "the break up was apparently inevitable and by the time it happened, good for everyone involved."

I miss Jason's songs, no doubt about it. But count me in the camp that says the band is better than ever. Clams, it's a fair point about Shonna, but her new songs are by far her best ever so i think that criticism is losing weight by the day. The tightness of the band can't be denied, Neff's chops are a given and while there seem to be a few dissenters, most of us think that jay adds plenty to the mix. And if u were there on New Year's Eve, you know this version of the band can rock the fuck out as hard, as long and as well as anybody. Anybody.

[RevMatt]

I never saw the Jason shows live and only have the recordings and videos to go by. Interesting that both Jason and DBT took similar directions after the split. They both added keyboards to the mix. Both went for less of a hard rock sound, though DBT revived this on TBTD. Both wrote more soulful Muscle Shoals type material.

The main difference in the live shows is that DBT features keyboards and pedal steel whereas during the Jason era it was pretty much a three guitar attack with Jason handling slide guitar solos. To my ears, the shows are a bit tighter now. It could be that adding a keyboardist requires things to be tighter. Or it could just be a conscious decision on the band's part. They are playing bigger venues and have better sound available, so this shows in their live performances.

[DD&N 2002]

Agree with comments made about two different bands. I feel very fortunate to have caught more than 20 shows with Jason, sort of like catching the Dead when they still had keith and donna or with Brent before he died. If anything, i have been surprised by how good the truckers are without Jason in terms of stepping up on productivity of solid songwriting and maintaining the killer edge live. I think Jason is a major major talent in terms of his songwriting and his guitar playing. It was reckless abandon with the "three guitars or a life of crime" to quote a DBT shirt sold at the time. In a way, there was almost not enough room in the band for the three of them given just how strong the songwriting really is by all of Jason, Patterson and Cooley. Interesting how good and plentiful the songwriting has been since Jason left. I also caught quite a few shows over the years with Neff and Jason onstage and that just added to the quality of performance, though we didnt really see how awesome Neff is on guitar until he was "forced" to step forward and lay it down. Still really miss the Jason tunes as they were clearly among my favorites, but his departure showed just how much DBT to the core revolves and always will revolve around Patterson and Cooley. Im sure if you added back Jason and lost one of Patterson or Cooley you would have a rockin band, but it just would not be DBT any more than the Grateful Dead could ever go by that name after Jerry died.

[Duke Silver]

Question. I came on board after Jason left, too. For those of you who were there before, what was the ratio of Patterson-Cooley-Jason songs on a given night? Was it an even three-way split, or was Jason's role similar to Shonna's? One of the things I love about the (current) live shows is the musical back and forth between Cooley and Patterson, but it does tend to sort of push Shonna to the margins. I think the next step in her development is to improve her stage presence, but it's gonna be hard for her to do that doing only 1-2 songs per night, sandwiched between a bunch of barnstorming rockers.

[SeanP]

i liked both carnations of the band...

i probably prefer the band without jason.
yea... miss his songs in the set but can go see 400 unit if i want to hear them.
the band is just playing better and sounds better than any show i seen them play with jason.

and i don't have to listen to jason's crappy background vocals live...
he always was louder than who ever was actually singing the song

[sactochris]

They were great with him, and they are great without him.

[drtpants]

Question. I came on board after Jason left, too. For those of you who were there before, what was the ratio of Patterson-Cooley-Jason songs on a given night? Was it an even three-way split, or was Jason's role similar to Shonna's? One of the things I love about the (current) live shows is the musical back and forth between Cooley and Patterson, but it does tend to sort of push Shonna to the margins. I think the next step in her development is to improve her stage presence, but it's gonna be hard for her to do that doing only 1-2 songs per night, sandwiched between a bunch of barnstorming rockers.

I would say that Cooley has stepped up his share of the heavy lifting more than anything else post-Jason. Back then I would say a typical night was 45% Patterson 30 % Cooley 25% Isbell. I don't really view Shonna's contributions as filling a void. She just does her three songs a night and they fit 'em into the set.It's great, not knockin' it at all. But for all intents and purposes it's pretty much 55/45 Hood/Cooley with a dash of Shonna.

[rawkshow]

Question. I came on board after Jason left, too. For those of you who were there before, what was the ratio of Patterson-Cooley-Jason songs on a given night? Was it an even three-way split, or was Jason's role similar to Shonna's? One of the things I love about the (current) live shows is the musical back and forth between Cooley and Patterson, but it does tend to sort of push Shonna to the margins. I think the next step in her development is to improve her stage presence, but it's gonna be hard for her to do that doing only 1-2 songs per night, sandwiched between a bunch of barnstorming rockers.

Jason played a bigger role than Shonna does nowadays but it wasn't an even 3 way split between the three live....more like a patterson 40%, cooley 35% & jason 25%....when they took a short break between sets tho, jason usually was the guy who would come out by himself & sing a song before the rest of the band came back out.

[emandrisdad]

The last show I saw w/ Jason in the band was the least great DBT show i've seen, so while that's probably not a great example of one line up v. another, it's another vote for "the break up was apparently inevitable and by the time it happened, good for everyone involved."

I miss Jason's songs, no doubt about it. But count me in the camp that says the band is better than ever. Clams, it's a fair point about Shonna, but her new songs are by far her best ever so i think that criticism is losing weight by the day. The tightness of the band can't be denied, Neff's chops are a given and while there seem to be a few dissenters, most of us think that jay adds plenty to the mix. And if u were there on New Year's Eve, you know this version of the band can rock the fuck out as hard, as long and as well as anybody. Anybody.

I guess I'm on of the dissenters. I while I don't dislike what Jay has brought to the band, I still prefer the more raw live sound of the songs that didn't have
keyboards live when I first started going to DBT show. In particular, Marry Me. To each his and her own, but I like the raw, no keyboard sound better.

[Duke Silver]

Question. I came on board after Jason left, too. For those of you who were there before, what was the ratio of Patterson-Cooley-Jason songs on a given night? Was it an even three-way split, or was Jason's role similar to Shonna's? One of the things I love about the (current) live shows is the musical back and forth between Cooley and Patterson, but it does tend to sort of push Shonna to the margins. I think the next step in her development is to improve her stage presence, but it's gonna be hard for her to do that doing only 1-2 songs per night, sandwiched between a bunch of barnstorming rockers.

Jason played a bigger role than Shonna does nowadays but it wasn't an even 3 way split between the three live....more like a patterson 40%, cooley 35% & jason 25%....when they took a short break between sets tho, jason usually was the guy who would come out by himself & sing a song before the rest of the band came back out.

Interesting... Bringing Shonna out by herself after a set break might be a good idea. The two times I saw them in 2010, she only got one song (Told You So, which I love), sandwiched between Get Downtown and Girls Who Smoke, and to be honest, it didn't really register. Her vocals were so low in the mix it was like a two minute blast of noise. Right now, she's got as many songs on as many albums as Jason did with DBT, but her stage time is way less.

Anyway...back to the topic at hand.

[GuitarManUpstairs]

I have no frame of reference either as I did not see a live concert with Jason so its hard for me to really comment on...but at the risk of furthering a tangent and having this turn into a "How does Shonna fit" thread, I will say this: I think with Jason it was easier for him to have more stage presence b/c his songs were more of the type the other guys play. Shonna's songs typically serve as a breath of sorts before heading into another string of rockers. I think her songs are too much of a change of pace for her to play much more of a role. I think what she does provide is an excellent and essential accessory, but I'm not necessarily looking for more of it in a DBT performance.

[WoodDuck]

The current band, however, is tighter than a duck's ass and brings their A game nearly every night.

Why thank you, sir.

[GuitarManUpstairs]

The current band, however, is tighter than a duck's ass and brings their A game nearly every night.

Why thank you, sir.

Present company excluded of course, there are some slutty ducks out there.....(Sorry kiddies....back to the NC)

[mark lynn]

Why is that every time a white man wants to talk about boxing his ass got to bring up Rocky Marciano?

[Clams]

Why is that every time a white man wants to talk about boxing his ass got to bring up Rocky Marciano?

The answer, in this case, with the personal stuff aside, is because Rocky replaced Jason as the third singer/songwriter in the band.

[Duke Silver]

it's relevant. shonna has stepped into jason's shoes as the 3rd songwriter. after 3 albums with the band, jason had 8 songs on record and was responsible for about 25% of the live show. after 3 albums (as a songwriter), shonna has 8 songs but is only responsible for 4-5%. that seems odd, is all. ggb plays more to her strengths, so maybe that number will go up now.

[Cubfan06]

i liked both carnations of the band...

i probably prefer the band without jason.
yea... miss his songs in the set but can go see 400 unit if i want to hear them.
the band is just playing better and sounds better than any show i seen them play with jason.

and i don't have to listen to jason's crappy background vocals live...
he always was louder than who ever was actually singing the song

I tend to agree with your last statements.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

At one of the shows I was at last year, Jay stepped out from behind the keys to sing and play guitar. I'd love to see them follow that direction more on the next record, maybe bring back to more of a full on rock sound. The keys work on a lot of songs but on some they simply don't. Reminds me of Van Halen's "jump the shark" moment with 1984.

[crowes74]

HATED it when I read Jason had left the band. Kinda wandered if I could dig DBT as much minus Jason.

... But after the smoke cleared I figured out that now we get to see two different great live bands. If they are happy I guess I'm happy with it too.