Patterson Hood rails against Mitt Romney and B.C. border guards

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      A couple of weeks back, when he called me from Boston to plug an upcoming Vancouver show, Patterson Hood had some choice words for Mitt Romney, calling him nothing short of "a f***ing idiot". And when he played that gig at the Biltmore last night, Hood voiced another description of the robotic Republican.

      "Mitt Romney is a c***sucker," he blurted out at one point in the show, drawing cheers of approval from the beardo-heavy crowd. "I'm proud to be part of the 47%!"

      Privileged presidential candidates weren't the only ones to taste Hood's wrath last night, though. He also laid it on thick for the Canadian Border Services Agency, whose members worked extra hard yesterday afternoon to ensure that he and his band, the Downtown Rumblers, got seriously harassed when they tried to cross the border from Washington State. The group was late showing up at the Biltmore, and didn't have time for a soundcheck. Plus, their cello player, Jacob Morris, wasn't allowed entry into our country at all. Makes sense. We all know what a huge threat to public safety those cellists can be.

      But, as it turns out, the remaining bandmates were fully capable of delivering a wonderful show on their own. The Rumblers--which includes sisters Claire and Page Campbell and a couple of members of Hood's other group, the Drive-By Truckers, namely keyboardist Jay Gonzalez and drummer Brad Morgan--focused on tunes from his latest solo album, Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance. Highlights from that stellar disc included the pulsatingly addictive "Betty Ford" and Hood's solemn tribute to singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt, "Come Back Little Star".

      To please the contingent of Drive-By Truckers fans in attendance Hood also rolled out acoustic versions of the early gem "Bulldozers and Dirt" as well as what may be his finest Truckers tune to date, the heart-wrenching "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife".

      "Since we got a late start I'm gonna cut out the bullshit of going backstage and coming back out," declared Hood when it came time for the encore. Then he rewarded the hardcore DBT fans once more with "The Righteous Path", which got him to thinking about why there's always a few empty pages in the back of those Gideon bibles you find in hotel rooms.

      "Maybe they're leaving room for a sequel," he surmised, "Bible 2: Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back to Jerusalem."

      You can follow Steve Newton on Twitter at twitter.com/earofnewt.

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Graham

      Oct 9, 2012 at 3:24am

      Right on Steve! What a great show. I loved Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife! Good to see you and your beautiful wife. Cheers!