Review: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Rabbit Rabbit
If you’re going to perform at the Democratic National Convention, a warm-up show isn’t a bad idea.
Six days before playing solo on that national stage — a well-deserved honor for a champion of the people who specializes in telling stories about everyday folks who deserve love — Jason Isbell and his phenomenal band the 400 Unit returned to Asheville for what’s become an annual stop. It was also his first show here since filing for divorce in February from his wife Amanda Shires, who memorably entertained concert-starved fans in November 2020 as a duo, outdoors at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds during The Grey Eagle’s drive-in series.
Filling the Rabbit Rabbit stage on Aug. 13 and a year removed from their tour in support of last year’s Weathervanes, the group nevertheless pulled just over 1/3 of the setlist from that 2023 release but mixed the newer songs in with Isbell classics and covers so seamlessly and enthusiastically that it felt like a Greatest Hits collection.
The ensemble set the tone for an energetic evening by trading mammoth guitar solos on an extended version of “King of Oklahoma,” after which the frontman deftly moved from electric to acoustic guitars while Anna Butterss swapped in upright bass for electric and back again.
Such sonic and visual variety elevated the already top-notch material, which nevertheless tends to blur a bit when presented in close proximity. But the thrilling choruses of “Traveling Alone” and “24 Frames” have the power to recharge and relaunch even the most minutely stalled momentum. And tossing in a loving take on Roxy Music’s “More Than This” — complete with its own big extended guitar solo — yields a distinct communal bliss that only the most timeless songs can muster.
While the intoxicated and dehydrated dropped in record number under the relentless sun during the band’s Rabbit Rabbit appearance nearly a year to the day prior, cooler temperatures helped kept attendees upright — at least until pre-encore closer “Cover Me Up,” during which one couldn’t help but wonder how many times Isbell has sung "'Til someone needs medical help" while cell phone lights summon paramedics.
With balance restored during the brief break that followed, the band returned for rousing renditions of Weathervanes’ “This Ain’t It” and “Cast Iron Skillet” before dropping the set’s second ’80s cover, The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.” Bliss once more filled the air, and it was tough to tell which side of the stage was having more fun.
(Photos by Micah Rogers)
