Review: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit perform in Evansville

EVANSVILLE − The packed house at The Victory Theatre surged to its feet Sunday night as Jason Isbell unassumingly took the stage, said a brief hello, and rolled into “Stockholm,” a song from his 2013 album "Southeastern."

It was the second time in just over a year that Isbell played The Victory with his band The 400 Unit, this time touring in support of their latest album, "Weathervanes," which just last month won a Grammy Award (Isbell’s sixth) for Best Americana Album. The song "Cast Iron Skillet" from the album also won a Grammy for Best American Roots Song.

Only seven of the 20 songs in the two-hour set were from "Weathervanes." Five of the songs were from Southeastern, Isbell’s breakout album that shot him onto the Billboard charts with his best known single, “Cover Me Up.” Others were a sampling from his nine studio albums, either solo or with The 400 Unit, a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Masterpiece,” and a rendition of Honeysuckle Blue, originally by Georgia group Drivin' and Cryin', sung by guitarist Sadler Vaden.

Isbell, a wunderkind guitarist who grew up near Muscle Shoals, Alabama, is praised as an exceptional songwriter whose melodies and profoundly personal lyrics resonate with listeners of rock, country and folk music alike.

Few of Isbell’s songs are what you would call happy. Many are autobiographical, and almost all dwell on themes of family discord, lost love, loneliness and isolation, substance abuse, hardship or poverty. His lyrics often touch on the struggles of poor people in the South.

“I need to move forward as a person through this work,” Isbell said in last year’s HBO documentary, “Jason Isbell: Running with our Eyes Closed.”

“For me to do that, I have to come terms with things that don’t make me look cool or don’t paint me in the best light… my songs are things that are under the surface of my own mind, things that I’m dealing with or working through. But the trick for me is to make a rock-n-roll record about all these things, ‘cause you don’t really want people to feel like they’re singing along with some sort of a self-help catalogue.”

Not on stage Sunday was Isbell’s wife and violin player Amanda Shires, who often performs with him. It was announced last month that the couple are divorcing after 11 years of marriage.

The crowd at the Victory, which encompassed listeners of every age from 20-somethings to senior citizens, stayed standing for the entire show, sometimes politely jamming with a more electric rock tune, sometimes standing still to soak up Isbell’s poetic lyrics, until he took the stage alone with an acoustic guitar for an encore performance of “Cover Me Up.”

The entire band returned for a rocking delivery of “This Ain’t It” from "Weathervanes," after which the show wrapped as Isbell flicked his guitar pick into the audience and promised a quick return to Evansville.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Jason Isbell concert in Evansville on March 10