El Jefe

Sunday night I went to a Son Volt concert at the Paradise rock club. Yes, by myself (I know I’m a loser; don’t rub it in). I came late, and managed to arrive just as the band was taking the stage, so I didn’t have to stand around waiting or listening to some opening act. They played a really long set, with nearly all of their latest album, Okemah and the Melody of Riot, and numbers off another couple albums and also off one of Jay’s solo albums Sebastopol. By the way, the leader, Jay Farrar, along with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, pioneered the “alternative-country” subgenre in the 90’s with the band Uncle Tupelo. Now you know.

I was afraid at first that it was going to be all rockin’, all the time, but they actually mixed up fast and slow songs really well. By the time the four (!) songs of the encore finished, they had hit all three of my favorite songs by Jay (”Windfall,” “Tear-Stained Eye,” and “Barstow”) and another nice slow one, “World Waits for You.” The only problem was they had no pedal steel guitar. Pffft. The guitarist attempted an imitation, but it wasn’t the same. Seriously, Jay: that’s what made those songs good. So yeah, ups and downs. I’ll stop typing now, since none of you actually know (or would like) the band I’m talking about. :)