Drive-By Truckers – November 9, 2016
Drive By Truckers at Union Transfer in Philly was the place to be on the day after Election Day. Led onstage by Mike Cooley who announced “We’re a goddamn motherfucking American band,” they launched right into Surrender Under Protest, followed by a number of other songs that could well be considered protest songs. Cooley introduced Made Up English Oceans by retelling how his marching band played before Jimmy Carter in 1980, and the KKK happened to show up too, with the only difference between then and now being that they get their suits at Brooks Brothers and drive around in black SUVs with police escorts. There weren’t many direct election-related references, but that wasn’t necessary as the songs and the undercurrent were plain enough. Patterson Hood was in full-on preacher mode toward the end of the set, kneeling at the front of the stage and ad-libbing during People Who Died that no matter what just happened, it’s still fucking great to be alive. The Drive-By Truckers, behind their new album American Band reset the mood after a miserable dreary rainy post-Election day.
Opener Kyle Craft actually kicked things off, capping his set with Before the Wall, at the beginning of which he received some heckling and an audience member shouted, to the effect of, “Keep your politics at home/we don’t want to hear that”, which he responded with (approximately) “I love you but fuck you and your hate.” Priceless.
