I caught the Truckers in Pawtucket, Rhode Island a few weeks back. The band has been playing larger and larger venues in recent years so it was great to see them in the relatively small venue known as The Met.
The group was in fine form. The youngsters in the group — Jay Gonzalez (joined in 2008) and Matt Patton (joined in 2012) are well acclimated. Gonzalez, in particular, shifted effortlessly from simmering keyboards to searing guitar as the show progressed.
We were treated to a handful of tracks from the new album, including some faves like “Shit Shots Count†and “Grand Canyon†along with a bunch of Trucker classics. “Zip City†anyone? How about “A Ghost to Most.†Heck, we even got a song dating back to Hood and Cooley’s pre-DBT band.
As that song list suggests, Cooley has a large presence in the set these days. Hood was his usual genial self, full of great stories to accompany the songs.
From the “be careful what you ask for†category: The crowd was chanting “play some rock and roll†as the band hit the stage to start the show. Hood smiled and said “noâ€; Cooley remarked, “This is the kind of city that don’t take no shit from nobody. I like that.â€
Fast forward to the end of the set. A chant arose from the crowd, “Play a fucking encore, DBT.â€
Here are some videos from the show, including one from the encore.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.