Concert Review: Band of Heathens at ACL Live at the Moody Theater
For the band’s 20th anniversary and release of their newest album, “Country Sides,” Band of Heathens commanded ACL Live at the Moody Theater on Friday, March 6, to affirm their status as an Americana tour de force alongside electric openers Sela Campbell and Jamestown Revival.
Written by Veronica Martin
At 7:30 p.m. sharp, a stone-faced blonde promenades up to the front of the harshly lit stage, acoustic guitar in hand. A perplexed crowd thins its chatter until the room is filled only with the sound of the opener’s shuffling boots. Without a second thought, she begins belting a chorus she’d later identify as being from her unreleased song “Old Boots.” Her twangy, captivating vocals would keep the crowd entranced for the next three minutes.
After the last note, her stoic expression was traded for a bubbly Southern charm and an ebullient smile. The act introduced herself as “Sela Campbell from Virginia,” a small country artist specializing in what she called “angry girl country.” Through a mix of covers and originals, Sela bewitched the crowd with her cheeky lyricism, simple guitar chords, and masterful vocals. Her original “Diamond in Your Pocket” told audiences to “tell [your friends] you had a diamond in your pocket, but you were still picking pennies off the ground,” to which the crowd agreed with applause. Finally, her interpretations of “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” moved the crowd nearly to tears. Without a doubt, Sela Campbell is sure to become a formidable household name in the realm of country’s greats.
As Sela strutted off, a caravan of scruffy, denim-clad men took her place. Smiling ear-to-ear, they introduced themselves as Jamestown Revival. Their lively demeanor riled up the crowd, especially as they transitioned to riffs that were reminiscent of old western cinematic scores. At the strum of their guitars, they frolicked playfully around the stage, jamming out near the microphone. The two frontmen grinned shoulder-to-shoulder, harmonizing for a track they named “Wondering Man.” However, pensive lyrics like “wonderin’ if I’m runnin’ out of time” contrasted their bouncing about the stage.
Their next tune, “Revival,” balanced striking vocal harmonies and a lengthy guitar solo. The introduction of an offstage blond with a saxophone, who plows through the melody, delighted the audience with his jazzy twist on the country folk track. Jamestown Revival truly “revived” ACL Live and allowed the audience to both sit with their emotive lyricism and revel in their vivacious instrumentation. After the conclusion of their set, the band had situated itself comfortably on the curve of modern country — Jamestown Revival was undoubtedly an ideal introduction to a night of raucous Americana frivolity.
With hard acts to follow, Band of Heathens marched onto the stage, eager to display their vast catalogue and mastery of the acoustic guitar. Immediately after their opening piece, “No Direction,” Frontman Gordy Quist addressed the crowd with the fitting Southern-style introduction of, “Home sweet home, Texas. How y’all doin’?” And naturally, the audience cheered in response.
After some crowd work, the band transitioned into their next hit, “Take the Cake,” which began with a honky-tonk intro that immediately roused the floor. The band obviously had some fun with this one as they grinned at each other and strummed away. Keyboarder Trevor Nealon bobbed his head back and forth to the lyrics “Love will fill you up, spilling from your cup, overrunning.” They breezed on into a short intermission where they discussed the hiccups of their tour. Supposedly, this was the rescheduled tour date to celebrate their 20th anniversary, which was actually in November.
“She’s the Night” was much darker and jazzier than the previous tracks. The lyrics described a mystery woman: “Black velvet sky wearing her pearls” and “She’s the night, running from the sun.” This piece was much more percussion-heavy, and drummer Clint Simmons could be seen jamming out towards the back of the stage, long blond hair swinging with every beat. This track was folky, and acoustic riffs peppered throughout gave it a vague Fleetwood Mac subcurrent. Quist and Ed Jurdi, the other frontman, went shoulder-to-shoulder for the ending harmonized “she,” beaming out towards a roaring crowd. If anyone is capable of rousing an audience, it’s Band of Heathens.
Their next older hit, “Jackson Station,” was an orchestral whirlwind. What began with an innocent piano riff transitioned quite strikingly into a steady beat with rustic backcountry instrumentation. Later, Quist would go on to name his primarily folk and rock influences as being Guy Clark and 70s Gram Parsons, both of which leave fingerprints throughout this track. The piano solo was undoubtedly unexpected, but a lovely diversion from the recorded track that features primarily guitar and harmonica. In fact, Ed Jurdi gives a scheming smirk and whips out a harmonica, belting with all of his might as the crowd goes buck wild.
“Look at Miss Ohio” is from their 2009 album, One Foot in the Ether. This one lulls the masses with its slow pace, but of course, Quist and Jurdi seldom shy away from the chance at a guitar riff. Naturally, they joined at the front and belted chords at a swaying crowd. “Medicine Man” is similarly serene and old-school, but with a more sensuous rhythmic spin. Lyrics such as “I’ll be your slave, I’ll be your king / I’ll be what you want, be your everything” add a provocative texture to the otherwise simple country-heavy discography. Notably, this piece also incorporates elements of soul as well, such as a bass-heavy beat and more guttural vocals. “Medicine Man” was a flavorful addition to the setlist, diversifying the honky-tonk nature of the Country Sides-heavy performance and infusing it with classic elements of soul and folk, to which the band owes its roots.
Hitting roughly 124,000 streams on Spotify, “Hurricane” has often been described as being the magnum opus of the Band of Heathens. So naturally, they saved the best for last. Even just the initial notes of the track get the crowd rowdy. The premise of the song consists of an anthropomorphic hurricane as “A devil’s daughter / She’s hard, she’s cold, and she’s mean.” Like “Medicine Man,” the tune is from an earlier album, clear through its similar soul inflections and older Southern arrangement. While certainly a wary tale of the formidability of natural disaster, the song dually praises the durability of the afflicted, with “It takes a lot of water / To wash away New Orleans.” When the song concluded, the band teased an encore. Of course, the crowd followed suit and cheered until the band returned.
Their encore harkened back to the earlier lively set with their “On Our Own Supply” and “Forever’s Not a Long Time.” The latter provided the show with a bittersweet, soulful conclusion. The band sings “Time stands still / You can’t see right through it,” as the audience sways. In a later interview with Quist, he divulges how, when sequencing the record, the album unintentionally followed the emotional path of the group since their founding, saying it “mirrors the arc of the band over twenty years.” When asked what he was most proud of on this album, Quist smiled and said, “Well, we weren’t supposed to be a band.” In response to my quizzical look, he delves into the band’s origins.
The group began with Quist’s and Jurdi’s performing individually at a musical residency at Momo’s in Austin. Long sets and the impromptu nature of the program led them to reconfigure into a clique of musicians. Now performing together, the band has stood the test of time. Multiple member changes and aggressive tour schedules created hurdles over which the band has leaped time and time again. And they’ve demonstrated clearly that they’ll continue to do so.
After their Austin show, Band of Heathens forged its place on the wall of the city’s greats. A twenty-year legacy of soul inflections, country interpretations, and overall musical prowess has assured them a spot on the list of Austin’s favorites. Band of Heathens has proven once again that they are keenly at the forefront of the Americana wave, even twenty years later.