The guys from Old Crow Medicine Show weren’t even twinkles in their parents’ southern eyes when Dylan released Blonde on Blonde. But as Ketch Secor explained in one of his rambling anecdotes, the record made an indelible impact on him, and the other members of the band.
Old Crow Medicine Show were back in town for the first time in almost a decade, this time to promote their album, 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde. The songs were more recognisable than if Dylan played them now – Secor joked that he could only ever decipher four words in Dylan’s mid-western drawl (Hey, Mr, Tambourine, Man). Old Crow Medicine Show can take a song like ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’ and capture the narcotic anti-establishment of the original in a heartbeat, ‘Pledging My Time’ was as relevant as ever, a statement of wavering nationalist sentiment.
Another Secor story told the tale of driving to New York with Critter Fuqua to see Dylan open up for The Grateful Dead. Secor and Fuqua had bought some acid for the event in Washington Square; the acid was a dud, but it was still a memorable night. ‘Stuck Inside Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again’ was a vivid picture of life in a dead-end southern town, now with added methamphetamine; Cory Younts, hailing from Bill Clinton’s hometown, took centre stage for ‘Leopard-Skin Pill-box Hat’. With skills honed busking on the streets of every town from Baton Rouge to Buffalo, these guys can play like their life depends on it; if the Devil turns up in Georgia looking for lost souls, Secor’s fiddle will send him once he came.
An encore was inevitable, and the band returned for another five songs, including the non-Dylan ‘Cocaine’ and ‘Wagon Wheel’, the latter which provoked a crowd singalong almost as impressive as that heard in Jolimont at 5.15pm the day before. There were more Dylan songs – ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, ‘Just Like a Woman’ and ‘Like a Rollin’ Stone’ – before the band, accompanied by Valerie June, the young singer who opened the show – bowed. Bob Dylan is a cantankerous old bastard, but even he’d have been impressed tonight.
Highlight: Being able to discern Dylan’s lyrics.
Lowlight: It’s a school night.
Crowd Favourite: ‘Wagon Wheel’.
