Murry Hammond kicked off the evening by sauntering out on stage proclaiming, "Welcome to a very special evening with the Old 97's, which is English for I open up for our lead singer," drawing laughs from the crowd. He proceeded to regale the crowd with personal songs and stories about his life including his opening ditty about "a teenage hardcore punk kid who used to ride the rails filming graffiti on box cars." He also sliced into a very heartfelt Celtic sounding tune that I believe he said he was asked to play at a Carter family funeral. It incorporated a stand-up accordion and it really showcased Murry's spiritual side. Surprisingly, the only recognizable 97's tune he brought to the table for his 30-minute set was “Valentine.” Murry tried to fire up a 12 string that he was having PA sound problems with (and which may have resulted in one more 97's song retrofitted to his solo style) only to abandon it for a poem and a announcement that Rhett would be up next.
While checking out the crowd during the short change up, I began to realize how much the 97's fan base is aging. Maybe it was because this was an all-ages show and several parents had chosen to bring their kids. I was equally shocked at the number of teens at the show who seemed to be there on their own. I don't often attend all-ages shows and this really caught me off guard when it really shouldn't have, knowing I'm a very short 6 months from the glorious age of 40. I guess this is what's referred to as a wake up call.
The short break ended abruptly when someone stepped to the mic to announce "Rhett Fucking Miller!" I guess someone forgot to tell him about the all-ages aspect of tonight's show. Rhett came out of the shadows, hips shaking and ready for business, breaking out “Like Love” off of his 3rd solo release Rhett Miller, which dropped last June. After taking a run through “Caroline” off the same release, Rhett took the opportunity to throw a good natured jab at Murry about his accordion and to tell the crowd that he would be playing several tracks off his new release with a few older ones mixed in. Rhett hit on a couple off of 2006's The Believer including “Fireflies” and “Singular Girl.” The latter of which was the highlight of the set for me being hooked on this song since I got my hands on the demo version included on the bonus disc from 2001's Satellite Rides. Rhett wrapped up his set nicely playing a second tune of off of 2002's The Instigator with “Our Love.”
Overall, both sets from Murry and Rhett were well balanced and really showed their strengths as individual artists. After seeing these guys a dozen times or more in 10 years, I half expected there to be a trade off of songs with Rhett and Murry that didn't happen. While both also made a great connection with the crowd, some cross synergy over between them could have put these opening sets into the stratosphere and added a different dimension to the show. I only bring this up because of how well the two play off of each other during the Old 97's sets and might it have rung a little more true to the billing "An Evening with the Old 97's".
After a 30-minute break allowed us check out Rob's photos of the opening sets, the Old 97's came out for an hour and a half set of Texas style home cooking. Rhett dove head first into 2006's “Won't Be Home” off of Drag It Up quickly jumping straight into “The Other Shoe” off of 1995's Wreck Your Life. A tasty way to open up the show! The 97's proceeded through their usual list of crowd pleasers including “Salome,” “West Texas Tear Drops,” “What We Talk About,” “Roller Skate Skinny,” “Four Leaf Cover,” “Big Brown Eyes” and “Murder or a Heart Attack.” Murry also impressed with his renditions of “Color of a Lonely Heart Is Blue” and “Smokers.” The band also played equal attention to their newest release, last year's Blame It On Gravity, showcasing “Dance With Me,” “The One” and “No Baby I,” which has really grown on me. The highlight of the evening for me personally was a throw down of an old favorite of off 1994's Hitchhike To Rhome, “Stoned.” This song hasn't shown up for me in past shows and I can finally check it off of songs I need to see live by the 97's before this thing comes to an end.
Uno, dos, tres, quatro!
Artist:
http://www.old97s.com
Related Articles:
Old 97's — [Live 6.19.08]
https://groundcontrolmag.com/detail/2/1102/
