More than two decades since its release, Drive-By Truckers' Southern Rock Opera The album will be complete when the band performs the entire 94-minute double album on an extensive US tour. The Truckers also promise to play fan favorites and deep tracks from throughout their career.
tickets for the tour, which kicks off in June, will officially go on sale on March 29 at 10am local time. Full ticketing information is enabled the band's website. Fans can too request early tickets through Ticketmaster.
“A lot has happened in the decades since it came out, both for the band and the world we live in,” the band's Patterson Hood said in a statement. “We feel that the record, while somewhat timeless, also has a topical timeliness considering the social and political issues of today. Instead of doing it like it's still 2000 AD, we want to make it our own, reflecting who we all are now in 2024. It's going to be intense, but also a lot of fun.”
Hood added that he would change the encore at each show, and the Truckers teased that this tour would be “quite possibly the last time we ever do it.”
Although Southern Rock Opera it wasn't the Truckers' commercial breakthrough – that came a few years later The dirty south – became a critical success despite being released on September 12, 2001. In addition to being released after a national tragedy, the album suffered from poor distribution and the band had to re-release it in 2002.
Critics appreciated the way the band reframed Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd's feud about the American South, as well as the band's ambition to make such a big statement. The release date made it difficult for the band to deliver the record it deserved at the time.
Rolling rock gave the album a positive review upon its release. “Over two discs and twenty songs, Dixie's Drive-By Truckers explode the yahoo baggage of 1970s Southern rock into a roaring memoir about growing up white, strong, and desperate in the former Confederacy,” the review said. “South Rock Opera deserves a handful of stars just for 'Free Bird' via Crazy Horse guitarists Mike Cooley, Rob Malone and Patterson Hood”.
“It was overwhelming for me,” Hood said Rolling rock in 2002 of the album's reception. “The whole time we were working on it, going back six years, everyone was telling us we were crazy and it was a stupid idea. We were told a thousand reasons why it wouldn't work, by everyone from some friends to anyone even remotely connected to the music industry. But we always went against what people thought was the smart thing.”
Drive-By Truckers tour Dates
June 7 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Center
June 8 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
June 9 – Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
June 10 – Henrico, VA @ Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
June 13 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
June 14 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
June 15 – Birmingham, AL @ Iron City
June 16 – New Orleans, LA @ The Civic Theatre
June 19 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
June 20 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
June 21 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
June 23 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
June 26 – El Cajon, CA @ The Magnolia
June 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
June 28 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
June 29 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
July 1 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
July 2 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
July 5 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
July 6 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
October 16 – Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
October 17 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
October 18 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
October 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
October 22 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
October 23 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
October 25 – Minneapolis, MN @ Uptown Theatre
October 26 – Minneapolis, MN @ Uptown Theatre
October 27 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
October 29 – Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom
October 30 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
November 1 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
November 2 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
November 3 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
November 5 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew's Hall
November 7 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
November 8 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
November 9 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
November 24 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/drive-by-truckers-southern-rock-opera-revisited-tour-1234992320/
