Supporting the reissue of three of their most important albums, Sound of Lies, Smile, and Rainy Day Music, The Jayhawks started their fall tour in Chicago on October 11th before making their way to Austin on Monday night. For longtime fans of the Minneapolis band, those three albums are especially notable because they were the three that came after the departure of co-founder Mark Olson, who left the band in 1995. They also contain some of the band’s best work. Taking the stage at Stubb’s on a crisp fall night with “most of the original 1997 touring lineup,” according to frontman Gary Louris, the Jayhawks seemed pleased to be able to focus on the 1997-2001 era of the band, and also happy to indulge their fans with older tunes.
Even without Mark Olson’s vocals to create those signature angelic harmonies that put the Jayhawks on the map, Gary Louris and the other members of the band sounded sharp and on point. While songs from the three reissues dominated the set, the band went back a little further with fan favorites like “Blue” and “I’d Run Away,” two of the tunes that essentially defined the Jayhawks’ signature Gram Parsons meets indie rock “alt-country” aesthetic. One special moment came when the band explored their own version of Golden Smog’s “Looking Forward to Seeing You,” which was sung by guitarist Kraig Johnson and keyboardist Karen Grotberg. Another touching moment came when drummer Tim O’Reagan sang his touching travel ballad “Tampa to Tulsa.” The set closed out with what is perhaps one of the biggest songs from the post-Olson era, the power pop meets folk rock tune “Tailspin.”
The Jayhawks were hardly finished when they returned to the stage and went right back into the “inbred” version of “Tailspin,” which meant a slowed down rambling country version of the song. The encore, comprised of a whopping seven songs, also saw Kraig Johnson and Karen Grotberg stepping into the spotlight for their fun take on the classic Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter duet “I Ain’t the One.” With the help of a local fiddler the Jayhawks leisurely made their way through “All the Right Reasons,” a cover of Neil Young’s “Sedan Delivery,” “Baby Baby Baby,” and finally a return to Golden Smog with their rendition of “Jennifer Save Me.” The encore saw the band returning to their alt-country roots and their ability to impart nostalgia even when playing in the present. In Austin the band reminded an intimate but appreciative crowd why their sound resonates just as strongly today as it did in the Nineties.
Photos by Merrick Ales
One Response
The fiddler is Gina Romantini, she’s on tour with them and is amazing. She also plays in the opening band.