By: David Rachac
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Son Volt at First Avenue - Photo by Steve Cohen (click image for full gallery)
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Like many in the crowd on Thursday, I had some serious trepidation about the Son Volt show at First Avenue. To me, Jay Farrar’s post-Son Volt output got increasingly less approachable, and live shows (with the exception of the duo shows with Mark Spencer) were mostly unenthusiastic events, usually saved only by a Neil Young cover at the end of the set. The uproar from fans since the announcement that Jay Farrar was reforming Son Volt without local heroes Jim and Dave Boquist – “How can you call this Son Volt?” – was only fueled by the release of the nearly all-electric Okemah and The Melody of Riot.
But if there was any question whether Jay Farrar was looking forward or backward when he reformed Son Volt, it was answered quickly by the first five songs they played -- all off of the new album. Kicking off with the high-powered “Who,” Farrar and company set the stage for a loud, uptempo evening. Bassist Andrew Duplantis (ex-Sugar) and drummer Dave Bryson (ex-Canyon) provided a hard-hitting base for guitarist Chris Frame (who looked eerily like a young Jim Boquist) to throw some massive solos over. Just a couple of songs in, I was already amazed at how tight and powerful this band was.I
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Son Volt at First Avenue
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Midway through the show, Farrar finally pulled a song from their 1995 debut Trace (“Loose String”), which received warm applause from crowd. Up to this point, I was little surprised at how good Duplantis and Farrar blended together, both musically and vocally. I thought that his muscular sound, which suited Sugar so well, would be somewhat overbearing with Farrar, but he displayed a light touch singing, and really was the engine that drove the band musically.
Much of the second half of the show consisted of songs from the first three Son Volt albums, with slower, softer songs from Okemah mixed in. Frame did a good job (perhaps too good of a job) recreating solos from the early Son Volt songs note-for-note, but reinforced the bridge between the old and the new. “Tear-Stained Eye” and “Drown” (from Trace) were audience favorites, and the show ended with the raucous “Afterglow 61”. For the encore, they brought the house down with “Windfall” and Uncle Tupelo’s “Chickamauga” sandwiched around a cover of the Clash’s “Armagideon Time.”
With none of the eclectic touches on the new album that made the three previous Son Volt albums the alt-country landmarks they were, I was prepared to be totally under-whelmed by the new Son Volt live experience. But funny things happen when you just open your mind and let the music move you, and I have to admit that walking out after the show, I had completely changed my mind. It may not be the Son Volt that I fell in love with, but their show left no doubt that this is a very vital live band.
Set List
Who
Bandages & Scars
6 String Belief
Atmosphere
Gramophone
Back Into Your World
Joe Citizen Blues
Medicine Hat
Ipecac
Damn Shame
Feel Free
Barstow
Loose String
Chaos Streams
Live Free
Clear Day Thunder
Picking Up The Signal
Jet Pilot
Endless War
Route
Straightface
Caryatid Easy
World Waits For You
Tear-Stained Eye
Driving The View
Medication
Drown
Afterglow 61
Windfall
Armagideon Time (Clash cover)
Chickamauga
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Son Volt
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