Isbell 8/22/17 Cain's Ballroom

Discuss Jason Isbell, Shonna Tucker, John Neff

Moderators: Jonicont, mark lynn, Maluca3, Tequila Cowboy, BigTom, CooleyGirl, olwiggum

Post Reply
User avatar
DiamondDave
Posts: 534
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 8:22 pm
Location: Mustang, OK

Isbell 8/22/17 Cain's Ballroom

Post by DiamondDave »

Tulsa 8/22/17 Cain's Ballroom

It was a really fun show. It was my first time seeing Jason w/Amanda or Amanda live at all. I really enjoyed her set and what she brought to the 400 Unit. Jason's set was spot on as usual. I've been seeing him live consistently now since his first month in DBT. I've never been disappointed with his live show. Good mix of new and old catalog that is standard for touring on a new record. I'll also be seeing him again next month and fully expect an almost exact setlist. And that's fine, although I personally can't wait until he decides to open up his setlists someday with deeper catalog. I know most will disagree, but for me, I'm fine with him dropping DBT material in favor of his solo songs. I actually thought last night's "Outfit" was somewhat tedious. It just didn't get to me like it used to live. On the contrary, I thought "Decoration Day" had more life last night. Amanda's little run on it at the end brought fresh air to it for me. The setlist indicated we were to have gotten a "Never Gonna Change" encore after "Vampires", but it was changed to "Whippin' Post". I'm glad to have seen it after hearing about it from the last tour, and it was enjoyable, but again, it just didn't hit me like it has others. Well played, but kind of like a novelty. On a funny note, I swear during "Stockholm" it sounded like he changed the lyric "I've heard love songs make a Georgia man cry" to "I've heard love songs make a Georgia man bi". Not 100% sure, and curious if anyone else heard it. He smiled and chuckled just a bit while glancing over at Derry. We also got the Todd Snider wedding story which was fun. The crowd was well engaged, and Jason and Amanda seemed somewhat taken aback with how loud we got singing along at times.
As I posted during the setbreak, there was an issue with security during Amanda's set. I'm not familiar with her songs well enough to name it, but it was a slower quieter song. Fellow directly to my right went to take a photo, his first one of the night, and the security guard directly in front of him grabbed for his phone. The fan questioned "I can't even take one photo?" and the guard began yelling at him to give him the phone and grabbed his arm and hand a few times. The guard began calling the guy a p#ssy and a c*@ksucker loudly. The fan held his phone to his chest and took a photo of the guard in order to report him and put his phone in his pocket. The guard kept up at the guy. Amanda watched the whole thing unfold and was visibly distracted. She motioned to someone off stage and then someone came and removed the security guard. Following the song she spoke about everyone getting along and no fighting, and addressed the fan and his girlfriend off mike asking if they were okay. During Jason's set security was basically nonexistent. It seemed like there was a policy change and it will be interesting to see how that unfolds going forward. At the end of the show Amanda came back out and gave out a setlist and some guitar picks and made a point to make sure this couple got one of Jason's picks. It almost seemed as if she knew them, but I'm not sure. I was fortunate to get yet another of Jason's setlists. Seems I'm always in the right place at the right time. I also picked up one of the tour posters which I really liked. I got #89 of 1000. Cain's was packed, though I'm not sure if it was sold out. The only other time I've seen it that crowded was for Robert Plant, although someone I spoke with thought Jason's show was more crowded than Plant's. I lean towards Robert's show. Unfortunately, the drunks and obnoxious folks were in full attendance as well, with one group deciding to take up residence directly behind me. They spilled beer and whiskey, crushed beer cans, watched youtube, talked and yelled most of the evening. One of the young ladies kept yelling "play Cumberland Gap!". And when then band actually began playing it, she had no clue. When Amanda had Jason join her during her set, they had no clue that they were married. They were genuinely shocked. Lastly, right as Jason's set began, in the wings of stage right Mercy made an appearance. Amanda's drummer was carrying her, and then put her on his shoulders for a bit of "Anxiety" Pretty dang adorable. The sound was noticeably great, even on the rail. Often you sacrifice clarity in order to be up close. Didn't seem like it last night.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
"If I'm not smiling, I'm just thinking...."

User avatar
Sterling Bigmouth
Posts: 656
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:10 pm
Location: Tennessee

Re: Isbell 8/22/17 Cain's Ballroom

Post by Sterling Bigmouth »

While I’m a little disappointed in Jason dropping the DBT tracks off his setlist, I can at least say I saw him do those on the final leg of his last tour. Seeing him at the Ryman in October, very interested in seeing how the new record plays live. Doesn’t mean I won’t always hold out for a random playing of Goddamn Lonely Love though.

I also greatly enjoy Amanda’s band. I can imagine her drummer being the one to bring Mercy on the stage, he was a really funny guy when I went and saw them in Athens.
Turn it up to 10 and rip off the knob

Post Reply