North Mississippi Allstars and Hill Country Revue flattened the crowd at the Fox last Thursday with a 3+ hour set. Photos by .
I’m not generally a fan of the jam band genre — I tend to get bored pretty quickly, probably due to my quick, loud and abrasive punk rock roots. But I have to say that, if any one band was going to be able to win me over, itap likely . Their show last Thursday night at the in Boulder, kicking off a three-day Colorado stint along with , went a long way towards doing that. The jury is still out on whether or not I’ve made the leap into jam-band love, but there’s no doubt I’ll be spinning more Allstars tunes into my playlists from here on out.
North Mississippi Allstars is a three-piece (most of the time) including brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson (on guitar and vocals, and on drums, keyboards and electric washboard, respectively) and Chris Chew (on bass) that continuously blows out audiences with their style of loud and loose blues-rock. The group has been nominated for three Grammys for Best Contemporary Blues Album since their inception in 1996, proving their wide recognition as true blues men. But their live show is even better than the recorded material, and showcases the band as rock stars as well.
The Allstars played a set that easily reached the three hour mark (just a tad too long for the punk rocker in me, to tell the truth, but it did remain impressive and exciting throughout) Thursday at the packed Fox. The band has history with Boulder crowds and counts a recent live album, “Boulderado” (recorded at the Fox), among their discos. They were recording Thursday nightap show as well and it was available to purchase after the show.
The band mentioned repeatedly how good it felt to be “back home,” though their true home is in Hernando, Miss., (which, incidentally, is just about as north as you can get in the state). Their style, steeped in the country blues-rock styles of R. L. Burnside and the Allman Brothers as well as some traditional Mississippi delta blues (and even a little hip-hop from time to time), definitely appealed to the laidback, stoney Boulder atmosphere, and the audience constantly swayed, popped and bounced tirelessly from the show’s first note to its last.
The set started with “Goin’ Down South,” as Luther Dickinson’s sultry slur wailed the few words along with his chunky guitar and led into some truly inspired axe wrangling. He cuts a skinny form behind his guitars — in this case a classy gibson SG — that belies the huge sound he coaxes from them, conjuring comparisons to mid-life Eric Clapton, the satisfyingly heavy flavor of Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and even Jon Spencer. As the bluesy twang of “Shake What Your Mama Gave You” barrelled across the stage, the audience was whipped into a jam-band frenzy until the Allstars hollered out the chorus, when all mouths seemed to be open and screaming along.
Bassist Chris Chew — a.k.a. “Chewie” — was highlighted soon after with a bass solo during “No Mo,” a song that has a decidedly hip-hop sound on record and that’s lost in the live version. Still, the main guitar riff is addictive and seductive, and after Chewie’s solo the song had the entire place floating along with its funk-laden groove. Later he serenaded the Fox with the tongue-in-cheek “I Would Love To Be A Hippy,” a long, low, humorous anthem about his regrettable lack of ability to grow out his hair long enough to fit in with that crowd. The performance showcased some heartfelt vocal and crowd-wooing talents that add to his impressive blues bass prowess.
The band added song after song, complete with thick, chunky blues rhythms and winding, slippery guitar licks and solos over the next hour or so, including “Mean Ol’ Wind Died Down,” “Blow Out” and the sweet and sexy “Eyes,” among others. Soon they were joined by members of Hill Country Revue for a long jam set. The conjoined bands treated us to more than a few fast, fluid guitar duels between Luther Dickinson and the Revue’s Kirk Smithhart, and some impressive drum jams featuring Cody Dickinson and the Revue’s Ed Cleveland.
Notably, once members of Hill Country Revue joined the Allstars, the chunky, gritty blues style gave way to a smoother and more produced one closer to the Marshall Tucker Band than to Burnside. After a few numbers, including a rousing version of “Gonna Let My Baby Ride,” both bands cleared the stage amid frantic cheering.
Their encore started out with Cody Dickinson’s only electric washboard performance, the instrumental “Psychedelic Sex Machine.” Dickinson’s magic with the washboard is unmatched, as he scrapes and bangs the rippled metal sheet wired through multiple effects. His performance produces a sound that mixes high winds, jet planes and super-fast factory assembly lines, all set to a frantic beat that leads into the instrumental number, as he’s joined by the rest of the Allstars and the members of the Revue.
Both bands played another slightly abbreviated set of jams before finally setting down their instruments, well past 1 a.m. The true jam fans started filing out then — even they were visibly worn down after that blowout.
Hill Country Revue put on an impressive opening set before the Allstars took over the venue, playing a good hour of their smoother, fuller blues jam style to a quickly filling house. The Revue is a side project of Cody Dickinson’s that features Chewie on the bass, as well as Ed Cleveland on drums, Kirk Smithhart on guitar and backing vocals and Daniel Coburn on lead vocals and harmonica.
They showcased a jam style that seems to have started with rocking Burnside blues, but was transformed by way of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allmans into a smoother, faster, more complex/jazzier blues style. Not quite as abrasive as the Allstars, they pleased the growing audience nonetheless.
Billy Thieme is a Denver-based writer, an old-school punk and a huge follower of Denver’s vibrant local music scene. Follow Billy’s giglist at
is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
MORE PHOTOS: Hill Country Revue
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS
