Drive-By Truckers @ The Queen’s Hall, 9 May

Sadly, tonight begins on a sombre note with that news that support act Josh T Pearson has cancelled due to the passing of his father. Instead of the last country gentleman's scorched and sprawling south-western soliloquies, the Drive-By Truckers take the stage for an extended performance.

A certain solemnity then pervades the band’s set, which typically ranges from dour slice-of-life dirges to Dixie-fried boogie. Sticking to the noir of recent work, the string of slow ballads stretches thin at times. While the band’s pensive pieces – whether meditations on Skynyrd or revenge stories of repressed wives – might languish without lyricism, the muddy vocal mix make their tales difficult to decipher tonight.

Regardless, the Truckers rile the crowd with the pick-me-ups like Everybody Needs Love and close down with the in-your-face Hell No, I Ain't Happy. But the real highlight of the night comes in the encore: Two tracks from the unrelenting Southern Rock Opera, plus a Dixie dive into Jim Carroll's punk staple People Who Died, give the occasion a previously unknown roar of unfiltered rock – and save the night while they’re at it.