Music
Now Hear This! The Old 97’s at the Pageant with Those Darlins, Whiskey Folk Ramblers
Courtesy of Allison V. Smith - Where:
- The Pageant
- When:
- Friday Feb. 18
- Time:
- Doors open at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.
- Price:
- $20 advance, $22 at the door
The Old 97’s, a Dallas bar band whose records span the better part of the last 20 years, is part of the reason you’ve even heard of alt-country. More upbeat than Wilco and more melodious than the Drive-By Truckers, the power-pop sequins of the Old 97’s coat their intermittent twang. In the studio, frontman Rhett Miller rounds out his boyish vocals, most notably on “Timebomb” and “Doreen,” with polished riffs behind him.
It is live, though, that the band outdoes itself. Its astounding 2005 live-album, “Alive and Wired,” trades Miller’s perfectly curtailed vocals for some scuffed, ole-fashioned hollering, matched by the leaping drums and jagged cords that echo the train wreck from which the band takes its name. The Old 97’s most recent album, “The Grande Theatre: Volume 1,” features songs specifically designed for concert play (all were composed in a weeklong session in a Dallas concert hall). Considering that the veteran band still denies rehearsing for live shows, this may be the best time to see the Old 97’s in their preferred element.