Old Union

Last night was the Old Union show that is to be made into their next live album. I know I've seen them a few times already this year but a) I love this band, b) I knew they were going to bring it for the record and c) I wanted to make as much noise as I could. They played at the Exit In and had a really full, amped crowd.

Local minstrels Ballhog! were the openers and apart from a few new songs, it was pretty much a typical show. The new one about East Nashville was pretty funny. I need to hear it a couple more times because it was hard to follow with such a seemingly complicated chord progression. Maybe I just had trouble focusing, either way, I liked it. I can't remember the names of the other new ones but they were pretty cool too. It looks like the Hog has started to cash in on the chemistry between the Randys, Boen and Russell. The rest of the set contained some usual favorites, "Diesel", "Pickin' White Gold", and "Don't Be Sad" to name a few, which are always fun to hear.

Old Union came out and thanked the crowd and explained what was going on and then wasted no more time getting to it. They launched into "Jericho" and never took their feet off of the gas. It was everything you could hope for from an O U show. Spotty and Johnny Z's guitar's locked in, the rhythm section tight as ever, and Chuck with as much gravelly soul as you can possibly get out of a VK 7. They bombarded us with O U strongholds like "Last Chance" and "Traveling Show", along with some good covers, one of which was a Zeppelin one whose title is on the tip of my tongue (little help in the comment section anyone?). Overall the show was great. I can't wait to hear the record.

I was interested to see how this band would handle making a live album. I've seen bands before that try to make one and get so caught up in the recording that the show suffers. Sometimes the players get into their own heads and play a tight, uncomfortable show, but not these guys. They came prepared like the professionals they are and used the "pressure" of the live recording, along with the jet stream of energy from the crowd to play a really good show. It was a good night for the combination of local music, cold beer, and good friends on the Rock Block.