Jason Isbell and 400 Unit at Radio City
by Descher on 2/27/24Radio City Music Hall - New YorkJI is my current favorite artist. His extraordinary song writing speaks for itself. Combined with the absolute brilliance of the 400 unit, and the fact that this show was in the iconic RCMH, the expectations were very high. Aimee Mann was a great opener. I have been a fan of hers for about 40 years! Despite her drummer missing the gig, she was phenomenal. The obvious connection to JI is her deeply personal lyrics over fine musicianship. JI took the stage at about 9:15. The band was blazing. Early soaring highlight was King of Oklahoma. It dripped intensity and emotion, and the warmth of the audience singing along created a very cool atmosphere. The audience for JI knows his music, and it is remarkable that in between songs there was no audience noise. The crowd is fully engaged. After the big electric start, the band went back and forth between his acoustic classics, and blazing southern rock. This is a band that has great fame for the tender classics like Strawberry Woman, Alabama Pines, Cast Iron Skillet, and super hits If We Were Vampires and Cover Me Up. This was mixed with 24 Frames, Overseas, Decoration Day and new scorcher This Ain’t It. If you know about Jason, you know. If you don’t it’s simple. If you think there is no new good music, and you love old CSNY or The Band, or The Allman Bros and Grateful Dead, you owe it to yourself to check out Jason. He is on the road to absolute legend