I hadn’t seen the Truckers in almost 18 months — Hopscotch 2011 — and when Patterson launched into “The Living Bubba” last night, even as I was deeply exhausted and irritated at the crowd, it felt like a physical relief to see the band. They have meant so much to me for many years, and while it was strange to not see Shonna up there, I think they’re sounding the best they ever have. Patterson and Cooley are such a well-oiled machine, Jay Gonzalez is too talented at everything, EZB is a machine, and the new little bassist from the Dexateens is having the time of his life playing with them. Everyone on stage looked happy and relaxed, and it shone through in their playing.  Mike Cooley is still desperately sexy. It felt familiar, and it made me happy.

I had a few bad interactions in the crowd, and, just, you know: you are not entitled to anything just because you think you love a band the best. There’s no way to measure that. And shoving people out of the way makes you a bad person.

Regardless: last night, I really loved the Truckers, and that makes me happy today.

I really loved the Whigs’ last record, and I enjoyed large chunks of their opening set. There was some rambly guitar wanking in the middle of their set that I found deeply irritating, because my feelings about jam bands are well-documented, but it didn’t turn me off, just bored me a bit. The rest of their set was great.

Full photo set is here.