Allison Moorer

Some friends of mine here in Washington DC invited me to go to a club last night. They wanted to see this band - the Drive By Truckers. Actually, I think one of my friends wanted to go anywhere that he could to be close to my other friend, but that's a story for another time (right J.P. ?). Now I'll have to be totally honest with you, I have never heard of the Drive By Truckers before, and coming off a night of little sleep and lots of spirit(s) I wasn't sure I wanted to do anything other than gobble down some more aspirin and chase away my headache with the sleep I needed. But I was in the same boat as J.P. - so I went anyway.

We headed to the 9:30 Club where The Drive By Truckers were slated to take the stage around 11pm. After a brief stop at Ben's Chili Bowl for a chili dog and a half smoke (if you have never been to Ben's you are truly missing out) we headed on to the venue. We found a place on the balcony to watch the show. It was a bit distant but we had a great view of the band. I asked J.P. who was opening and he said that it was Allison Moorer. That name sounded familiar to me but I couldn't quite place why. I know I've heard the name before. After that show, I will never forget that name.

As I was pondering these thoughts in my brain, the band took the stage. Out walks this 6 foot something redhead wearing a tight black tee shirt that reads "FREEDOM" across her chest. She steps to the microphone and begins a set that will not soon be forgotten, by me, or anyone else there. I have seen Dylan, Steve Earle, The Bottle Rockets, Matthew Ryan, Garrison Starr, and countless others, and Allison Moorer is on par with any of them (ok so no one is on par with Dylan, not now, not ever but she is damn good). Even our female friend who leaned over to me when Allison Moorer first took the stage and said "I don't like female band members" admitted to me a few songs later "She has an amazing voice!" And that, my friends, is an understatement of unconscionable proportions.

Allison Moorer has one of the strongest voices I have ever heard. I was reminded of Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" from The Bodyguard soundtrack each time that Allison Moorer would open her mouth. Words fail me when trying to convey how great a voice this woman has. Her set was as good as any, anywhere. The $15 for the show would have been worth is just to look at her for 2 hours, but this one is far more than eye candy. She is wonderful for the eyes, but that much better for the soul. Go and get her latest CD. "The Duel" it is truly a great album. Allison Moorer is the epitome of the Americana style of music (Americana is the category for artists that fit no category. On any given night you will be as likely to find them playing Punk as you will to find them playing Bluegrass - and many times you will find them doing that in the same set). If you like Patti Griffin , Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, etc then you will love Allison Moorer that much - umm more.

As to the rest of the night, well, it kinda went down hill. I expected the main act to be the "main act" for a reason. That thought process proved to be dead wrong for the remaining 2.5 hours of the show. The Drive by Truckers should have kept on drivin' by in their truck. They seemed to be more of a prop band. Like they had a nice banner; maybe they are good painters. Seriously, the best thing I can say about the Truckers is that they sounded a lot like another band - The Counting Crows. Except the Truckers didn't have the talent, lyrics, or style that The Counting Crows do. It's just that their lead singer sounds a little like Adam Duritz. I actually left before they got done playing, and I don't ever remember doing that. Their drummer was the highlite for me. He appeared to be rather annoyed that he had to be there. He kept looking around like he was missing a drum that he thought would appear if he just kept lookin'. Ohh yeah, Casey (our female friend) seemed to really like them, so apparently they have more going for them than we did last night. SO it doesn't totally suck to be them, I guess.

I'll leave you with my favorite quote from J.P. last night. After seeing the shirt Allison Moorer was wearing he said "Freedom isn't free"

Remember,
Be good, and if you can't...

At least be good at it ;)

E