But then again, Isbell can turn on a dime and produce quieter acoustic meditations that are all the more astonishing when they quiet a big outdoor audience that had been rocking along minutes earlier.
To keep things interesting for himself, his band and maybe audience members who catch more than one show, Isbell switches the setlist around each night. As a result, those who peek at what he’d played in previous shows may be disappointed when he didn’t play them here. But then again, pulling things out of the hat means playing some unexpected selections, from “Alabama Pines” in the first half of the show to “Speed Trap Town” toward the end.
The show came on the same day that he had announced the band would release an album of Georgia-related cover songs on Oct. 15 — as he promised he would last November, if Biden won the election (proceeds from the album will go to voting rights organizations in Georgia). So they played one of them, a cover of R.E.M.’s “Driver 8” that was welcome, but sounded quite different played on two acoustic guitars, accordion from keyboardist Derry DeBorja, and Isbell’s richer, more melodic voice.
Isbell is aware that there is tremendous affection for his 2013 solo breakthrough “Southeastern,” so he closed the show with a group of songs from it (a rotating selection at each stop). This evening, the closing trio were “Stockholm,” the yearning “Flying Over Water” and the terrific “Cover Me Up.” (The shambling and reliably rocking “Super8” from “Southeastern” had come earlier).
The encore began with just Isbell and Vaden on acoustic guitars for his “Tour of Duty.” And bringing the band on stage for a final song, Isbell had been doing Stones covers, but instead picked something from his Drive-By Truckers past, “Never Gonna Changed” which revved and revved again before winding up.
Choosing Waxahatchee as opener was part of Isbell’s intent to showcase Alabama acts. It was a one-night slot on Isbell’s tour for her, but she rose to the occasion with a full band giving her songs extra power while retaining their vulnerability.
In fact the voice of Katie Crutchfield, who is the embodiment of the project named after a creek in Alabama, has the right tone and timbre to be a country singer. Sometimes she covers Dolly Parton in concert.
Tuesday, her backing of the band was a Detroit group called Bonny Doon who got to perform one of their own songs amid the 12-song set, three-fourths of which were dominated by songs from the latest Waxahatchee album, “Saint Cloud,” released in March 2020 in the opening days of the pandemic. She, like the headliner, had been waiting a long time to perform her new songs live and her enthusiasm was obvious.
The setlist for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Tuesday was:
- “Overseas”
- “What’ve I Done to Help”
- “24 Frames”
- “Hope the High Road”
- “Dreamsicle”
- “Alabama Pines”
- “It Gets Easier”
- “Super 8”
- “Letting You Go”
- “Only Children”
- “Last of My Kind”
- “Driver 8”
- “If We Were Vampires”
- “Be Afraid”
- “Something More Than Free”
- “Speed Trap Town”
- “Stockholm”
- “Flying Over Water”
- “Cover Me Up”
- “Tour of Duty”
- “Never Gonna Change”
The set for Waxahatchie Tuesday was:
- “Oxbow”
- “Chapel of Pines”
- “Can’t Do Much”
- “Recite Remorse”
- “The Eye”
- “Hell”
- “Long Wave”
- “Lilacs”
- “Witches”
- “Ruby Falls”
- “St. Cloud”
- “Fire”