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Steve Earle & the Dukes/Live at the Senate/Columbia, SC/May 16, 2019

Thursday, May 23, 2019 By Todd Mathis

I walked into the Senate to hear Steve Earle introducing the Mastersons and proclaiming “You’re gonna hear a lot of Guy Clark songs tonight, and a bit of Steve Earle songs too” to a large and enthusiastic crowd made up of mostly 40 to 60 year old Caucasian males. Shortly thereafter the Mastersons started up and my Budweiser sipping neighbor booed loudly and howled like a dog to which I quipped, “You know they are in Steve’s band, right? You’re gonna have to listen to them all night.” His response was a slurred, “As long as they’re singing back up.”

Fortunately for the Mastersons, this dude’s opinion wasn’t widely shared as they played a nice opening set and then joined Mr. Earle for a marathon evening of Clark and Earle tunes, as promised. Opening the set with “Dublin Blues”, Earle joked about having to get that one out of the way first, then went into a string of four other Clark songs before dipping into his own catalog with “Mercenary Song”, “Tom Ames’ Prayer”, “Fort Worth Blues”, “I Feel Alright”, “Guitar Town” and “Copperhead Road.” That string alone would be enough for the price of admission for most, but Earle continued with some newer originals, another Clark streak featuring “L.A Freeway” and also tossed in “Galway Girl”, “The Unrepentant” and “Hard Core Troubadour” before leaving the stage and returning for an encore of Springsteen’s “Racing in the Street” and “Pink Cadillac” and finishing with Clark’s “Old Friends.”

I have to say for a 64 year old Steve appears to be in good health and was definitely giving his all on this night. While the start of the show was a little slow with the Clark songs, it picked up quickly and he and the Dukes did not look back.

RYIL: Yellowjackets, vests, bandanas


About the author:  Producer, Engineer, Musician and all around music enthusiast.


Filed Under: Alt-Country, Americana, Reviews

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