Upcoming: Old 97s at Boulder Theater - 07/16/09

I don't try to hide my bias when discussing the Old 97s, who probably stand as my favorite band of all time. Too Far to Care may be the album that had the greatest impact on my perspective on music, and I still consider it the best alt country album of all time.

(image courtesy of Paste)
I'll never forget the first show of theirs I ever saw, at the Gypsy Tea Room in Deep Ellum in 1999. I didn't have a ticket, so I showed up at 7 p.m. to stand in line and proceeded to wait about 4 hours before I finally got to see them. I can also still remember basically being mesmerized as the entire room sang along with Rhett to "Wish the Worst." But I digress...I have way too many Old 97s stories.

The band has somehow withstood the test of time, maybe even benefitting from the fact that they never really got huge. They've got an amazing catalogue of songs that probably couldn't be covered in two full nights, much less one. Today's Colorado Daily interview with Rhett Miller reports that the band will be taking requests for the Boulder show on Twitter. This is the type of thing that could lead me to overload the Twitter system singlehandedly. I'd better not get greedy though. Hmm - don't think I've heard "Hands Off" more than maybe once live. But then there's "If My Heart Was a Car," "Crash on the Barrelhead," and "House that Used to Be" also. Decisions....

Did I mention how awesome it is that Rhett and Murry are opening the show each with their respective solo material? I may not be able to drink enough to make this make sense.