Drive-By Truckers/Stubb's, Austin/April 29, 2006

Well, I'm back from my little roadtrip to Austin. I spent the afternoon at The Ginger Man, sampling some beers and pumping fivers into the jukebox (which actually - finally - has some new tunes, but the card for Let It Bleed still has all the tracks listed out of order). Then it was over to Stubb's to catch DBT with The Drams opening the show. I was, of course, right up front so the sound wasn't too hot, but I was in the sweat-catching-pit right beneath Patterson Hood. And Cooley totally shook my hand! The show was great - The Drams (basically Slobberbone re-formed) were pretty awesome, too, and have a new album coming out this summer.

Anyway, special thanks to my new friends Walter and Gracie. Between the three of us, I think we did a respectable job keeping the beer cans lined up. Walter is apparently as obsessed with DBT as I am, and Gracie is apparently as tolerant as my wife.

I listened to The Faces all the way up to Austin and most of the way back. I finally picked up the box set last week, and I just can't get enough. I'm rounding out my Sunday by watching Gimme Shelter for, like, the 47th time. There's this shot at Muscle Shoals Sound where they pan down Keef's leg to these disgusting snakeskin boots, and I'm like, "Are those boots or Keef's bare feet?" Because Keef circa '69 is just a total freakshow, man.

Drive-By Truckers circa 2006 are the closest thing we've got to The Stones circa 1969 or The Faces circa 1971. So try not to miss them when they come to your town.

(P.S. I didn't take that picture of Patterson Hood - I got some shots with my lame camera phone, but they're not really worth sharing.)