Concert Recap: Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit’s Return to Lubbock Reminded Me Why I Fell in Love with Music

Every dream starts with a flicker of hope. Those flickers can be getting a response from Jason Isbell on Twitter about doing a show in Lubbock or the email you get from his tour manager confirming press tickets and a photo pass a few weeks leading up to the show. To see one of your favorite artists in concert, especially in such a beautiful venue like Buddy Holly Hall is a dream come true.

As we walked inside the venue, we got our hands on the limited Lubbock-only merchandise and found our way to our seats. I personally think that any artist that does limited-run merch and artwork for every city they stop at is way cooler than they have any right to be, and I will buy a keepsake poster no matter what.

Amythyst Kiah opened up the night of festivities playing plenty of songs off her 2021 album Wary + Strange with songs like Black Myself, Wild Turkey, Tender Organs, and Fancy Drones (Fracture Me). She fits the description of a perfect opener for Jason Isbell with her Blues Rock and Country Soul influence, the crowd absolutely loved it and remained engaged for the duration of her entire set. The few people I talked to during the intermission told me that they were genuinely blown away by her voice and her triumphant sound. The show also included a beautiful cover of the Tori Amos song Sugar. Talking to her after her set, she said she never expected to play in such a beautiful venue like Buddy Holly Hall and get the opportunity to open for someone as incredible as Jason Isbell for a few shows, but she was so grateful for these experiences. 

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit came on stage to a massive uproar from the audience. For a city that prefers to sit for the entirety of concerts, the sheer number of people who stood up throughout the show surprised me and Andrew. The power of a rockstar like Jason Isbell gets people moving. He opened with the Grammy award-winning song 24 Frames and blew the roof off the house in the first moments we were graced with his presence.

The stage was set with one of the most interesting set-ups I had ever seen at Buddy Holly Hall with lasers filling up the venue with colors and a square lighting rig hovering over the band flashing beautiful hues of red and blue the entire show.

Jason and the band continued with Hope the High Road off of their 2017 album The Nashville Sound which was one of my most anticipated tracks to hear live just for the opportunity to scream out “Last year was a son of a bitch!” at the top of my lungs. By this point, I learned that every single song I was going to hear at this show was going to sound 20 times better live. From the few shows I have seen at Buddy Holly Hall, the sound crew has struggled with the mixing on a majority of the shows, but the 400 Unit’s team were seasoned professionals who brought the best out of the room’s acoustics. Nothing felt overly loud or like a wall of sound. Each instrument fit the sound stage and nothing overpowered the rest. It was genuinely one of the best mixings I’ve heard at a show to the point where I didn’t need to use ear protection from the subs.

Jason Isbell slowed the show’s momentum with songs like Dreamsicle and Only Children where he showed the balance between the stadium anthems he opened with with the more emotional and personal cuts he performed. By this time, the security and ushers had begun cracking down on the venue’s strict rules of no videos. They would push through the rows of seated audience members to block their cameras and flash their lights in the faces of people to get their attention to curb the possibility of someone trying to record a small fragment of their favorite artist to keep forever. Isbell addressed them by showcasing the beautiful lasers and lights he provided the venue with for the show before saying something along the lines of “I spent a lot of money on all these lasers so please don’t have your own little light show with your flashlights to get someone’s attention. Please just tap the person in the audience on the shoulder if you need to get their attention.”

Next was Overseas which has one of those guitar riffs that brings you back to the first time you heard the song. It sounded incredible live. He continued by trading his electric guitar for an acoustic for another Grammy award-winning song If We Were Vampires which is a beautiful song about eternal love. I saw a few couples stand up and dance together to it which shows how much Jason’s music had on a majority of the attendees.

Following this beautiful moment was a two-pack of new songs from the group off the forthcoming album Weathervanes. Jason played both Death Wish and Middle of the Morning back to back. Middle of the Morning has taken control of my life as of recently where I proceed to sing the song as loud as possible inside my car. I proceeded to do the exact same at the show.

Next was Running With Our Eyes Closed followed by Super 8 which was another one of those “burn the house down” type of songs that had the crowd amped. He then immediately contrasted Super 8 with The Nashville Sound opener Last of My Kind which showcases his power as a songwriter. It’s beautifully intimate and had the crowd swaying to every word.

With Southeastern crossing its 10th anniversary this year, Jason and the band did a quick tribute to the album by performing Stockholm and Flying Over Water (Andrew’s most anticipated song of the evening) to hoots and hollers.

Jason interrupted his ode to Southeastern by performing the oldest song of his of the evening: Alabama Pines. He called the song one of his first true hits and the first song people wanted to hear from him live saying, “So you know, I only played it two or three times a show.”

He returned to his tribute to Southeastern by playing Elephant, a story of witnessing a friendship fade away due to cancer. The band followed it up with a cover of Drivin’ n’ Cryin’s Honeysuckle Blue with Sadler Vaden, an original member of Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ and now a member of the 400 Unit, taking over lead vocals. Two words: It ripped.

To close the show, Jason remained alone on stage with an acoustic guitar to perform Cover Me Up, an ode to his wife Amanda Shires and her support during his time in rehab and chase toward sobriety. It brought a huge chunk of the audience to tears. It is genuinely one of the most powerful songs ever written, and it proved how powerful songwriting can be. The tradition of cheering for Jason after this line stayed true in the South Plains where the entire crowd erupted in cheers and stood in solidarity. The band slowly returned one at a time building up to a huge emotional climax to end the show.

No one had to rise from their seats to request an encore. Only a few minutes went by before the band returned with their newest song Cast Iron Skillet which personally brought me to tears from the power of its lyrics and the beauty of the live rendition. They closed with an incredible cover of The Rolling Stones’ Can’t You Hear Me Knocking which went into an extended jam band-esque ending where the band proceeded to knock down all the walls since they already blew the roof off.

Andrew and I stood from our seats in awe. This simply was one of the greatest live shows either of us had ever seen. This was the first time I got to see Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit live and Andrew’s first time seeing them headline a show. From our office at KTXT being filled with his music a majority of the time to us standing next to each other for the duration of the show, a dream with a flicker of hope turned into a reality. We really saw Jason Isbell live. This was the best crowd I had ever seen in a Lubbock show. Andrew talked to the great Slade Coulter outside the venue following the show and his review was summarized in one word: “Wow.” We all left Buddy Holly Hall as changed people. This was one of the most powerful live shows I had ever attended. What a genuinely incredible show.

If you ever get an opportunity to see Jason Isbell live, take no time to consider and get your hands on some tickets because I do not know if there will ever be a show that can top what this man did in less than two hours. What a show.