Drive-by Truckers detour a bit at First Ave

"Do I look sorry?! I mean, I got to play the First Avenue!"

Patterson Hood spiked those words into "Let There Be Rock" near the end of the Drive-by Truckers' umpteenth First Ave gig, singing unapolgetically about all the havoc he wrecked in his younger days in pursuit of rock 'n' roll glory. Hood's Truckers sounded as glorious as ever Thursday, but it was a different kind of show for the thinking-man's Southern rock band. A good chunk of the two-hour set was remarkably mellow and downbeat, at least for them. Hood even pulled out an acoustic guitar at one point, which I don't think I've seen him use since a DBT acoustic gig several years ago at SXSW (when he said afterward it would be their last unplugged gig ever; it didn't go well). No complaints this time. Some of the lighter stuff sounded tight and damn elegant, including "The Deeper In," "Santa Fe" and, best of all, "Everybody Needs Love," a cover from late Alabama guitarist/songwriter Eddie Hinton. An essential part of these songs was the increasingly integral organ work of Jay Gonzalez.

Of course, the band kicked it into gear more as the show tore on. One of the highlights was the rarely-played-of-late "Road Cases" (thank you, Mary Jane Mueller, for requesting it). Hood said he wrote it about fame "from the perspective of someone who's just trying to find a guitar he can afford." Glad he found one. Here's the set list: