By Jeff Kollath

At the 9:30 Club on Friday, Drive-By Truckers proved once again why they are one of the most incendiary live bands going today. Their energy, guitar solos, and Southern storytelling have made them legions of fans that sing along, head bang, throw their fists in the air on command, and yes, occasionally invade the personal space of those around them. The last time DBT played the 9:30, Patterson Hood missed the show with a 104 degree fever, giving the reins to co-founder Mike Cooley, who proceeded to get so intoxicated that he invited audience members on stage to sing a couple songs. Friday night’s show was INTENSE, as the band plowed through 27 songs, including some deep cuts from the back catalog, feeding off the energy of the sold-out crowd, and drawing from the fiery heat and humidity that has enveloped the DC Metro area all summer.

DBT is one of the few bands that actually make me want to get to the show early, as their pre-show setlist is a Memphis and Muscle Shoals history lesson, reinforcing the band’s roots and hopefully educating a few people about artists like the sadly underappreciated Eddie Hinton and the forgotten Arthur Conley. After a slow, slightly sloppy start, the show really hit its stride about 1/3 of the way through thanks to Shonna Tucker’s blast of vintage girl-group pop, “(It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So,” and to Mr. Cooley. While Hood is the most recognizable face and voice of DBT, to many, Cooley is the undisputed star of the group. His true-to-life songs about relationships and sex, rural isolation, Southern culture, and life on the outside are sung and played with ease and coolness that endears him to DBT zealots and casual fans. That, along with just enough sex appeal to make you question or not you’d leave him in a room alone with your girl, give him a magnetism that is hard to deny. In short, he is the muscle-car driving protagonist in ”Zip City” – he “ain’t got no good intentions.” Cooley did not disappoint this night either, leading the band through fan favorites like “Where the Devil Don’t Stay,” “When the Pin Hits the Shell,” “Panties In Your Purse,” and a very underrated track off The Big To-Do, “Get Downtown.”

When Hood’s light gray shirt became black as night with sweat, we knew the show must be drawing to a close, but, after catching a second wind and taking an audience request for “The Tough Sell,” Hood led the band through the autobiographical “Let There Be Rock,” closing the show with a sonic boom of arena rock guitar solos and lyrical hyperbole. After a lengthy encore break, the band returned for a seven-song encore (including a cover of “Everybody Needs Love,” written by the aforementioned Eddie Hinton), culminating in the explosive and eardrum shattering Jim Carroll-cover, “People Who Died.” Throughout the show, the house mix became louder and louder, and by the encore, the thunder from Shonna Tucker’s bass and Brad Morgan’s kick drum was chest-pounding. Walking out of the show, I felt like my body has been through a sonic mosh pit, sweaty, haggard, and devoid of energy. Certainly, the near 90-degree temps – at 1am, no less – didn’t help either.

Having not seen DBT live since late 2008 (a lackluster effort at the Riviera Theater in Chicago), and really having not been a fan of A Blessing and a Curse or Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, my interest in DBT waned over the last year. Yet, as I left the 9:30 Club, my feet throbbing, my head spinning, and ears ringing, I felt that same sense of satisfaction and joy I felt when I first saw DBT in 2004. This is a band that knows who it is, but more importantly, knows where it came from. The roots of the band, firmly entrenched in the musical heritage of Muscle Shoals and a hybrid of both the real and mythical South, are evident at every twist and turn. It’s unpredictable, and when a drunken, sweaty 300 pound behemoth is pressed up against you, it’s a bit scary, but if you go once, you’ll always come back, and you just might learn something along the way.

Set List: The Fourth Night of My Drinking / Where the Devil Don’t Stay / Drag the Lake Charlie / 72 (This Highway’s Mean) / The Living Bubba / Panties In Your Purse / The Opening Act / Get Downtown / (It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So / After the Scene Dies / 3 Dimes Down / Hell No, I Ain’t Happy / When the Pin Hits the Shell / Your Daddy Hates Me / Sinkhole / Birthday Boy / The Tough Sell / Buttholeville > State Trooper / Zip City / Let There Be Rock /

Encore: The Flying Wallendas / Women Without Whiskey / Everybody Needs Love / Marry Me / Putting People on the Moon / Shut Up and Get on the Plane / People Who Died

The Drive-By Truckers return to Wisconsin with shows scheduled at the Majestic Theatre in Madison on Tuesday, September 28th and the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee on Friday, October 1st.

Download: Drive-By Truckers – 7/23/10, Washington DC