The roster of highly anticipated 2018 concerts includes Harry Styles, the Eagles, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Niall Horan, "Weird Al" Yankovic and Steve Aoki. David Lindquist / IndyStar
Singer-songwriter is master craftsman at Old National Centre
Jason Isbell sang about his commitment to marriage during "If We Were Vampires," the final song he performed Saturday night at the Murat Theatre in Old National Centre: "I'll work hard until the end of my shift."
The words also apply to Isbell's approach to being a musical craftsman. On tour with his backing band the 400 Unit, Isbell delivered precise, consistent greatness across the Americana spectrum.
When a song was stripped to his voice and guitar, Isbell's engaging drawl commanded attention and filled the room. Time to rock? Isbell and fellow guitarist Sadler Vaden threw themselves into an epic electric duel on "Never Gonna Change." Somewhere in the middle, Isbell and accordion player Derry DeBorja hammed it up for honky-tonk fun during the song "Codeine."
Alex Williams: Meet the Indiana singer who’s a label mate of Taylor Swift
‘IndyStar Sessions’: Cyrus Youngman & the Kingfishers light up music series
Doug Jones: Indy native is leading man of Oscars’ most-nominated film
Isbell told the sold-out crowd he and his band were driving directly to New York City after the show. They're in the running for Grammy Awards tonight in the categories of Best Americana Album (for 2017's "The Nashville Sound") and Best Americana Roots Song (for "If We Were Vampires").
Check out five ways Isbell brought the best of Nashville to Indianapolis:
1. Southern man
Isbell grew up in the northwest corner of Alabama, and the South couldn't ask for a better ambassador than this musician. His empathy for women and people of color is spelled out in "Nashville Sound" song "White Man's World," in which Isbell examines privilege and the possibility to be an agent of change. Although someone may have won the lottery at birth or been born on third base (to borrow two Pearl Jam lyrics), he can work to make things better for others.
2. Slide rules
The 400 Unit doesn't include a pedal-steel player in its lineup, but Isbell and Vaden played a wealth of slide-guitar solos to conjure a high, lonesome sound. Isbell peaked with a devastating peal on "Decoration Day" (from his Drive-By Truckers days). Vader added his own slide solo at the end of "Decoration Day," and his other slide showcases arrived on "24 Frames" and "Last of My Kind." Isbell rounded out his slide action on "Tupelo," "Cover Me Up" and "Danko/Manuel." It was next best thing to seeing guitar icon Derek Trucks in action. Coincidentally, the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Drive-By Truckers will perform July 20 at the Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park.
3. Missing Amanda
400 Unit member Amanda Shires wasn't onstage, but the presence of fiddle player/vocalist/Isbell's wife was felt in the lyrics of "Cover Me Up" (packing its reliable emotional wallop from the line, "Girl, leave your boots by the bed" onward) and "Vampires." The show's dominant visual element, an intertwined anchor and sparrow rendered as a jumbo light display, served as the Isbells' wedding logo. For the record, Shires is working on her next solo album.
4. ’80s rock
Two "Nashville Sound" numbers would be at home on Big '80s albums by Bryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen. "Cumberland Gap" zooms along in the style of Adams' pre-ballad era ("Run to You" and "Summer of '69," for instance), but Isbell's song is packed too densely to be a good time — a rare misstep for someone who's an expert at making the space between notes count. "Molotov" fares better at following Springsteen's template of checking for sparks after a couple has settled down. "Time flies when you're making babies," Isbell sang. "Do you miss your little black Mercedes?"
5. He’s a fan
It's rare to hear headlining acts say they're "honored" to have a particular supporting act on the bill, but it happened Saturday with Isbell and James McMurtry. Roots rocker McMurtry, whose 1989 debut album was produced by John Mellencamp, lived up to his reputation as a top-shelf songwriter on 2015's "You Got to Me" and 1995's "Levelland." The former tells the story of being in a certain city for a wedding and getting an itch to look up an old flame: "“With my vest unbuttoned and my necktie loose, impervious to all abuse.” The latter describes a mother who's turned inward: "Don't think she's seen the sky, since we got the satellite dish." (Sub "smartphone" for "dish" in 2018.)
The songs
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit performed three songs Isbell wrote and recorded as a member of the Drive-By Truckers: "Decoration Day," "Never Gonna Change" and "Danko/Manuel."
Saturday's set list:
1. “Hope the High Road”
2. “24 Frames”
3. “Something More than Free”
4. “Decoration Day”
5. “White Man’s World”
6. “Last of My Kind”
7. “Alabama Pines”
8. “Cumberland Gap”
9. “Tupelo”
10. “Molotov”
11. “Codeine”
12. “Chaos and Clothes”
13. “Stockholm”
14. “Flying Over Water”
15. “Cover Me Up”
16. “If It Takes a Lifetime”
17. “Never Gonna Change”
Encore:
18. “Danko/Manuel”
19. “If We Were Vampires”
Call IndyStar reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.