Live Review: Justin Townes Earle, Sam Outlaw

After dinner proceedings had wound up at The Basement Wednesday night and the audience member in the late era Death Cab For Cutie shirt had successfully spoken to everyone in attendance, the confident, crowd-pleasing Sam Outlaw rolled out on stage.

The best thing about dinner then a show is that the support gets to play to an almost packed venue, perhaps his only misstep being that he came out on stage hatless and put one on before he started playing – kinda breaks the “guy with hat” illusion. Outlaw was all class from then on in, playing poppy old-style country tunes, the highlight being Playing Hard To Get (Rid Of). “Please don’t leave after my set,” Outlaw joked towards the end, and while it was obvious he was super-tight with Justin Townes Earle, and that nobody was going anywhere, the comment struck an unexpected vein of irony when Outlaw’s performance ended up overshadowing Townes Earle’s.

Justin Townes Earle had the back catalogue but not the banter to match Outlaw, and he gave it all he had, in spite of a sound guy who couldn’t quite tune out a nagging bass note. Earle also thought that Virgin Airways might have fucked his guitar up, which certainly got the crowd on board; everyone loves to hate an airline. Once he got into his groove he nailed the Billie Holiday tribute, White Gardenias. “People remember her as a junkie, but not all junkies are amazing singers,” he rationalised.

The slowed-down post-encore Fleetwood Mac cover made the best of Earle’s bright, steely guitar work, before he wrapped up the set with Harlem River Blues, which had the whole crowd on board. Turns out the only way to get Townes Earle off side is to shout requests: “The best way to guarantee I won’t play a song is to ask me to play it.” That’s how they roll in Memphis.