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It really hasn’t been all that long since Slobberbone broke up. Just a few years.

And you could make the argument that they didn’t really break up at all, just went through another personnell change, changed their name to The Drams and tweaked their sound a little.

So why did Tuesdsay night’s show at Dan’s seem like such a return to a time long ago?

They were billed as Whiskey Glass Eye, the world’s premiere Slobberbone tribute band but there wasn’t a person in the jam packed club that night that didn’t know it was a reunion show. Brent Brest, Jess Barr, Tony Harper and the return of Brian Lane (with Scott Danbaum sitting in on about half the set.)

And there I was feeling all nostalgic and shit.

They went way back and played lots of old stuff. Stuff I haven’t heard them play in a long time. They even resurrected the banjo, which Brent Best explained was the real reason they broke up. He said when you make the decision to tour with a banjo there’s no going back. And a banjo will fuck you up. Every night it will say “you just try and make me work,” so when you finally decide it would be a lot easier to tour without the banjo everyone gets all pissed off.

The band seemed as excited about the whole thing as the crowd. Brent was in full out rock mode- throwing his head around, wailing out the old songs and tearing up the guitar.

Brian Lane, still standing about seventeen and a half feet tall was all but unrecognizable in a haircut that would pass any military inspection. He  looked like he was  thrilled  to be up there with his old bandmates.

And they killed. Seriously.

There was lots of Pabst Blue Ribbons and shots of whiskey on the stage with lots of “drinking breaks” between songs but it was still a more focused performance than their last show a couple years ago. Or maybe I just wasn’t as drunk, it was a Tuesday night.

They played for about 2 hours.

There were two opening acts, Glossary and The Magpies. Originally it was just gonna be the Magpies but Glossary was in town opening for Lucero on Sunday night and they managed to get a night off from the tour and secure a spot on the bill.  So that made for a night that got progressively better as it went on.  Glossary is a six  piece band from Murphreesboro, Tennessee that’s probably one to watch. Scratch the probably.

The Magpies, formerly The Whiskeyhounds, from Cleveland is definitely one to put at the top of your “to see” list.  If you’ve heard the Whiskeyhounds then you know they do solid, twangy, well written rock and roll.  Even though I’d heard their discs, I had no idea they were as rockin’ as they were live. The keyboard player could be described as something like Jerry Lee Lewis hopped up on speed and maybe a little pissed off about something. He pounded the living hell out of the keys- with his fingers, his fist and even his elbows.  His glasses kept flying off his face. And you should see what he does with a tamborine.

I had a feeling while I was watching them that Slobberbone, or Whiskey Glass Eye, or whatever they want to  call themselves were going to seriously rock if they had to follow these guys.

I wasn’t disappointed either.

Here’s Slobberbone’s setlist :

Barrel Chested
Lame
That Is All
Stumblin’
Front Porch
Find The Out
Sober Song
Gimme Back My Dog
Billy Pritchard
Engine Joe
Lumberlung
Meltdown
Lazy Guy
Pinball Song
Your Excuse
Placemat Blues
I’ll Be Damned
Whiskey Glass Eye
Springfield, IL
Can’t Hardly Wait (Replacements)
Get Gone Again
Haze Of Drink
I Can’t Get Sober
Big Time  (Neil Young)