"Rock and roll saved my life as a teenager, and it's still saving my life today!" crowed Patterson Hood, singer of Drive-By Truckers, to a rambunctious crowd at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Boston this past Sunday night. In a move congruent with this Southern rock band's sincerity, Hood took a moment mid-song to address the crowd, testifying with unabashed openness about a troubled past and how music kept him going through difficult times as a young man.
The theme of integrity persisted throughout this double header concert that brought together two very different styles of contemporary rock: the sprawling, down-home swagger of Drive-By Truckers' alternative country followed by the post-punk-meets-bar-rock thunder of The Hold Steady. Playing to a packed house of about 2,500 in the Orpheum, a classy, older-style venue, both bands shook the rafters and kept fans engaged throughout the evening, which marked the bands' 10th stop on the "Rock and Roll Means Well" tour.
Despite holding the opening spot, Drive-By Truckers proved themselves to be just as much an integral part of the show as The Hold Steady, playing with confidence, tightness and a knack for arrangement not frequently seen in an opening act. Guitarists Hood and Mike Cooley traded lead vocal duties, with backup harmonies and a few fronting performances by bassist Shonna Tucker. Harkening back to their Southern rock forebears Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band, Cooley, Hood and third guitarist John Neff all seemed comfortable sharing the spotlight, swapping solos with relish.
The Truckers proved their versatility, incorporating horns and keyboards in songs that ranged from upbeat rockers like "Marry Me," to darker ballads such as "Zip City," to minor blues two-steps like "Hell No, I Ain't Happy." Lyrics emphasized the importance of candor in story telling; Cooley and Hood do not gloss over their narratives of life in the South, nor do they apologize. As they closed a 90-minute set with the anthemic "Let There Be Rock," the band ad-libbed a refrain: "I'd like to say I'm sorry/ but I ain't f--ing sorry!"
At 9:40 p.m., The Hold Steady took the stage with even greater gusto. Exploding into its set with the frenetic "Stay Positive," the title track of its latest album, this rock-reviving band from Brooklyn looked ready to jump off the stage with an enthusiasm that proved immediately infectious to the audience. The crowd stayed on their feet throughout most of The Hold Steady's set, jumping, dancing and singing along with the hilariously spastic yet unlikely-looking front-man Craig Finn.
With pianist Franz Nicolay and guitarist Tad Kubler singing harmonies, the five-piece band performed several fan favorites from previous albums, but predominantly focused on material from this past summer's release, "Stay Positive." Finn slipped on his own lyrics on two occasions, but shrugged it off both times and continued his gruff monologue with determination and spirit, narrating stories about sex, substances, religion, music and love.
Instrumentally, The Hold Steady did not disappoint, incorporating a guest horn section with a consistent rhythm section that provided the basis for impressive keyboard work by Nicolay. Kubler displayed his usual classic rock prowess, whether he was wailing out impressive solos on a double-neck guitar for the Skynyrd-esque ballad "Lord, I'm Discouraged," or busting driving, blues-rock riffs for the humorous and rowdy "You Gotta Dance (With Who You Came to the Dance With)." Finn's lyrics, frequently alluding to the state of Massachusetts, resonated with the audience, many of whom turned out from his alma mater, Boston College.
For an encore, several members of Drive-By Truckers joined The Hold Steady on stage to perform an acoustic number, "Both Crosses," followed by a boisterous cover of The Band's "Look Out Cleveland." Both bands' narrative lyrical style meshed in the multi-perspective tale "Chill-Out Tent," about a boy and a girl — sung by Drive-By Truckers' Hood and Tucker, respectively — who meet and hook up in the first aid station of a music festival "up in Western Massachusetts" after separately suffering mild drug overdoses.
The performances of both bands underscored the importance of integrity and passion in rock-and-roll lyricism, as well as the joy of performing music. Few shows in this era feature an opener and a closer that are not only musically and lyrically compatible, but also clearly enjoy each others' company and are inspired by each others' work. Finn drew this theme to the spotlight as he paused in the middle of the band's traditional encore-closer "Killer Parties" to quote the Drive-By Truckers lyric from "Marry Me" that has given this tour its title: "A wiser man than me once said this/ but I'm wise enough to repeat it: ‘Rock and roll means well/ But it can't help telling young boys lies.' We've had a great time here tonight/ thanks to all of you for coming out to share in that with us."
