Roots Revival Done Right

Saturday night at The Riverside Theater started out something like a Tennessee roadhouse and ended like an outtake from The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia on election night in Colorado, with a little Midwestern charm courtesy of PBR and whiskey.

Ticket holders had been waiting patiently since 2008 for Old Crow Medicine Show to return to Milwaukee. They played in Madison in 2009 on their last tour through Wisconsin. Had I known they wouldn’t return for so long, I would have secured a ticket then instead of trying to save a few bucks. But the Riverside show made it worth the wait.

Every seat might have been full if it weren’t for the mass of people swarming the stage. Eventually the balcony filled with those who desired more room to jump around or sit down. I’m guessing a lot of people from outside the city were there. Everyone eventually found their place.

Chuck Mead and his Grassy Knoll Boys opened loud with Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonk Blues.” They were a perfect choice for an opening act; everyone was fully engaged and didn’t hold back the urge to dance. The four-piece had minimal percussion: just a snare and hi-hat. The steel guitar player, Carco Clave, played several flawless solos. Mead and his band’s masterfully arranged covers of classic country tunes provoked the crowd to hollering early on.

I decided I loved these guys after their version of “Tennessee Border,” when Chuck Mead declared: “That was so hillbilly I smell mule shit all over!” Then came the Johnny Horton-esque Andy Griffith tribute, “Me & Opie.”  I’m not sure if it qualifies as a cover, since half of the band used to actually be in BR549. (That song triggered a flashback of living in the country in 1996, being 15, and lusting for a new issue of CMJ magazine to come out so I could discover new bands.  Including these guys.)

Their included “Girl on the Billboard,” “Apartment Number 9,” “Devil In Me,” “You Better Treat Your Man Right” and ended with “Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor.”  While inspecting their records after the show, I was pleased to see that former Milwaukee transplant Jim Herrington shot photos for their last album, Back at the Quonset Hut.

If you missed this show, go see Tim Cook & The Riverwesterners.  They’re the Milwaukee version of Chuck and the Grassy Knoll Boys.

Old Crow Medicine Show entered in darkness, with Johnny Cash’s “Get Rhythm” in the background. As the lights rose, they started the set with “Alabama High Test,” from 2008’s Tennessee Pusher, which triggered another round of hooting and dancing. Next was their political commentary ballad and one of my favorites: “Big Time In The Jungle,” from 2004’s self-titled album. Quite a dramatic entrance.

The band’s frontman, Ketch Secor, took a few seconds to rouse the crowd with a few words about sitting on the bank of the Milwaukee River and watching a mattress float by, with a Pabst Blue Ribbon in his hand and a girl on his arm. The next song was “Caroline,” also from Tennessee Pusher, with slightly altered lyrics that included Milwaukee and Brewers references. After an unreal Appalachian twirling down-on-the-floor back-to-back one-legged instrumental fiddle duet by Secor and Chance McCoy, the band mellowed it out with “Take Em Away.”

A lot of touring bands get in the habit of only playing music from their newest album. I’m glad OCMS is modest and thoughtful enough to compile a set people actually want to hear. Also on the set list: “James River Blues,” “Humdinger,” “Cocaine Habit,” and a version of “I Hear Them All” that seamlessly transitioned into and out of “This Land Is Your Land.”

The audience impressed me during “Wagon Wheel.” The entire ballroom was actually singing along in key, which never happens. They also did something else rarely seen at concerts: They refrained from becoming a glowing sea of blue-lit cell phone photographers capturing lo-rez moments rather than paying attention to the music. An occasional flash, but those people were taking pictures of each other because they were having a good time.

The band linked arms-over-shoulders, kick-line style, for a vaudeville bow after their last song. A few minutes later, they kicked off an encore set with Woody Guthrie’s “Union Maid.” Chuck Mead and his band joined OCMS to form a 10-piece for covers of “Cherokee Boogie,” “What Made Milwaukee Famous” and “Quinn the Eskimo.”

A little bit of Milwaukee channeled Nashville just for the night. Something about the energy of a bunch of guys jumping around with fiddles and guitars and banjos and guitjos tires you out and slows you down just enough to enjoy it all. From busking pre-1998 to their Grand Ole Opry residency to international touring, OCMS does roots revival right.