There was a point during Patterson Hood’s solo performance at Larimer Lounge last night when the lead Drive-By Trucker pretty much gave up trying to hide how high he was. It was during the encore, after a 15-minute song/diatribe about white-knuckle traveling in West Virginia, and halfway into “Dead, Drunk, and Naked”, when he forgot the words once again. This wasn’t the first time he fucked up during his two-night stand at the Lounge, far from it, but this time he didn’t even try to recover. The words he was looking for were “so if you come to see me, I’m sure you’ll be impressed, by how well I’m behaving and how well I’m dressed“, but instead, he threw his hands in the air, cracked a child-like smile, and blurted out “Cuz you gotta love Colorado! It’s kinda fucking beautiful! And weed’s legal here!” It was one of those moments that made these two nights so special. This is an artist who so rarely makes mistakes when on stage with the Truckers, so it was kinda refreshing (and sometimes hilarious) to see him struggle with his own words. Sure, he was fighting a cold. And sure, he was drinking Patron like it was water. But there were just a few too many references to “gettin’ stoned” and “sneaking out for a smoke‘” to leave any doubt as to where the short-term memory loss had originated.
He was in good company though, as was made evident every time someone yelled out a request for a Cooley song. The best was when a woman who had been shhhh’ing people all night long decided to rudely interrupt his ‘dry county/blue law’ story with a high-pitched request for “Checkout Time in Vegas”, to which he responded “that’s another dude’s song” with a laugh. I guess it’s easy to find humor in the follies of the drunk when you’re as high as a kite and drinking from your own bottle of tequila.
Speaking of Cooley, the other Trucker also performed back-to-back nights at the same venue back in February and it was a much different scene. First of all, Cooley wasn’t high (at least not obviously so) and he sipped a Stella with a water back. The crowd (at least on the first night) was relatively quiet and attentive during the performance and Cooley sat down for most of his set. It was a singer-songwriter show. Patterson put on a ‘rock show’ in front of a ‘rock show’ crowd. They both told stories, but where Cooley’s soft-spoken southern drawl could be heard throughout the bar, Patterson was yelling to be heard over the rowdy bearded bunch (as well as those who were trying to quiet the rowdy bearded bunch, but were actually making as much noise themselves). It was a different scene, but it was still a Truckers scene. In fact, for a solo show, Patterson surprisingly favored Truckers tracks over his own material — even debuting a few songs from the upcoming album and never duplicating a song between nights.
Now, I realize I am painting a picture of a shitshow, but that’s not my intention. Neither night was what I expected from an acoustic set, but they were still amazing performances from an incredible songwriter. Sometimes I feel like I take Patterson for granted. I have always favored Cooley and Isbell’s tracks on each album, but Patterson really is the heart of the Drive-By Truckers. Anyone who has seen him on the stage, a dripping mass of sweat and emotion screaming “People Who Died” at the end of a three hour set will attest to this…but sometimes it’s easy to forget. The man is so prolific and has so many stories to tell that it becomes easy for the strokes of genius to get lost in all the words. Those moments of genius came during the high notes of “Puttin’ People On The Moon” — during the tragic “Tornadoes” and during the heartbreaking “The Living Bubba”. They came when he attacked his guitar like the answers to life were hidden within. They came during lines like “If your mind’s in the gutter, beware, you’ll find me there.”
Patterson Hood took us into that gutter this weekend. He wasn’t a rockstar on a stage, he was just another flawed friend. At one point he promised “I’m gonna get better, I know it“, but that really wasn’t possible. Nothing is perfect in the gutter — words get forgotten and things get ugly — but when you’re among friends, it can be a beautiful place.
12.13.13:
Lookout Mountain
Sink Hole
Nine Bullets
Miss Me Gone
When Walter Went Crazy
Unknown
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town
Heathens
Unknown
George Jones Talkin’ Cell Phone Blues
Better Than The Truth
The Righteous Path
Old Timer’s Disease
Box of Spiders
The Southern Thing
18 Wheels of Love
Back of a Bible
12.14.13:
Two Daughters And A Beautiful Wife
Daddy Needs a Drink
Hang On
Little Bonnie
12:01
Puttin’ People on the Moon
Bulldozers and Dirt
The Deeper In
The Thanksgiving Filter
Dragon Pants
My Sweet Annette
Tales Facing Up
The Opening Act
Tornadoes
White Knuckle, West Virginia
Dead, Drunk, and Naked
The Living Bubba
