Live Review: Drive By Truckers @ The Empire.

by | May 19, 2014

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

I had never seen Georgia based band Drive By Truckers before, and I was extremely excited to photograph and experience a night of live music at Shepherds Bush Empire. The band’s music dates back three decades now and I spent the days prior to the show catching up on the music I was previously unfamiliar with.

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

The show was the closing date of their UK tour and it looked to be a really cracking gig with the crowd at the Empire  eager for some great rock music.

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Heartless Bastards, a four piece from Ohio, opened the show up. Front-lady Erika Wennerstrom delivered a powerful performance with a strong stage presence. The opening act had a good mix of blues and country music and I would recommend giving them a listen.

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Heartless Bastards play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

The now packed venue greeted the band with a roar as Drive By Truckers casually entered the stage. Vocalists Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood rotated vocal duties, with Cooley opening the set up with Made Up English Oceans from their 12th album English Oceans, followed by Patterson with Girls Who Smoke.

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Some of the many highlights of the show were the great southern drawl cover Play It All Night Long written by Warren Zevon with the chorus  line “Sweet Home Alabama, play that dead band’s song” and the  song Lookout Mountain from the 2004 album The Dirty South. If  you have never been to Lookout Mountain in Georgia then Google it to see what they are sing about…watch out for that drop.

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

The band played for about two hours building up a wholesome sweat, dedicating the emotional closing song ‘Grand Canyon‘ to a friend of the band, Craig Lieske, who died last year.

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Drive By Truckers play Shepherds Bush Empire (Solange Moreira-Yeoell)

Live review and photographs by Solange Moreilla-Yeoell. Drive By Truckers @ Shepherds Bush Empire 13th May 2014.

[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000UDZhuMOHjxk” g_name=”Drive-By-Truckers” f_show_caption=”t” f_show_slidenum=”t” img_title=”casc” pho_credit=”iptc” f_link=”t” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”t” f_fullscreen=”t” f_show_watermark=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_mtrx=”t” fsvis=”f” width=”600″ height=”450″ f_constrain=”t” bgcolor=”#ffffff” bgtrans=”t” btype=”new” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” crop=”f” twoup=”t” trans=”flip” tbs=”4000″ f_ap=”t” linkdest=”c” f_topbar=”f” f_bbar=”f” f_bbarbig=”” f_smooth=”f” f_up=”f” target=”_self” ]

 

Courting @ Oslo, London (Charlie Harris)

Courting Deliver Their Lust For Life Live At Oslo Hackney

I’m at the back of the near 400 capacity first floor live space at Hackney’s Oslo. Iggy Pop’s seminal Lust For Life...
Jerub (Press)

Jerub Releases Breathtaking New Single ‘Deeper’

Rising pop sensation JERUB has released his powerful new single Deeper. It marks the first release from the singer's...
Pigs x7 @ Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth (Rebecca Cairns)

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Deliver A Thunderous ‘Doozy Of A Set’ At Wedgewood Rooms

Any band staging a ‘Headbanger of the Night’ competition during their set, must have plans to make a heck of a lot of...
Mumford & Sons @ Pryzm (Kalpesh Patel)

Mumford & Sons Deliver An Intimate Outing Of Rushmere At Pryzm

It's been a beat since Mumford & Sons were everywhere. From their emergence in 2007 and breakthrough debut Sign No...
Back Country, New Road (Eddie Whelan)

Black Country, New Road Release New Album ‘Forever Howlong’

Black Country, New Road have released their new album Forever Howlong. The new LP is the band's first studio release...
Rise Against (Alexa Viscius)

Rise Against Drop New Single ‘Prizefighter’ Ahead Of Download Festival Spot This Summer

On the heels of playing LA's Kia Forum, and releasing recent single Nod, Rise Against have shared their second new...
Culture Wars (Eliot Lee)

Culture Wars Pen Angry Letter On Rock ‘N’ Roll Belter ‘Typical Ways’

Austin-based band Culture Wars have shared their shout-from-the-rooftops single Typical Ways, available to stream now...
James Bay @ Royal Albert Hall (Kalpesh Patel)

The Long Road Festival Announces James Bay As Final 2025 Headliner

The Long Road Festival returns for its biggest year ever in August 2025, today announcing that multiple Brit Award winner, Ivor Novello recipient and GRAMMY® nominee James Bay will close the festival as Sunday night’s headliner, adding to previously announced U.S. headline artists Drake Milligan (Friday) and Midland (Saturday). Set for the August Bank Holiday weekend (Aug. 22-24) The Long Road takes place every summer in the grounds of Stanford Hall in Leicestershire.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing