Tuesday 23 August 2016

Jason Isbell


The Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh


21st August 2016

This was the first of Jason’s two sold-out Edinburgh gigs, with which he was closing his short European Tour.  700 bodies The Liquid Rooms (officially) holds and, whilst I am not suggesting for one second that the venue management had squeezed a few more in this evening, l would suggest that those 700 must have been a pretty well-nourished bunch, as space (and, indeed, oxygen it felt at times) was of a premium.  There was one bod near to me who simply keeled over and had to be carried away by a couple of medics.  Heat exhaustion and nothing more sinister I hoped.


Palmetto Rose and 24 Frames opened the show this evening, both appearing oddly turgid affairs; each slowed down slightly but noticeably.  But once the band got into their groove with Stockholm and the Stones-influenced Go It Alone they never left it.

Travelling Alone and Codeine were both superb, with the throng singing along to each word-perfect.  And Jason’s work with his co-guitarist - the marvelously named Sadler Vaden (I wish I was called Sadler Vaden) – on his Drive-By Truckers’ covers Decoration Day and Never Gonna Change, ensured even the most geetar-blowout hungry attendees went away more than happy.

“He is the bastard offspring of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen” asserted a chap in front of us as we filed out.  But there is far more (and, thankfully, simultaneously far less) to Jason than that simplified summation would suggest.


Setlist

Palmetto Rose
24 Frames
Something More Than Free
Stockholm
Go It Alone
How To Forget
Travelling Alone
Codeine
Alabama Pines
Decoration Day
Speed Trap Town
If It Takes A Lifetime
Cover Me Up
Never Gonna Change

Encore
Flying Over Water
Children Of Children


Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

Derry Deborja during Codeine

Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

L to R Sadler Vaden, Jimbo Hart, Chad Gamble, Jason Isbell, Derry Deborja

Jason Isbell - Edinburgh 2016

After the Event

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