Todd Snider @ Gruene Hall

I have waited far too long to see Todd Snider live. He might be the best songwriter of our generation, and has long had a reputation as an incredible live musician who sprinkles his performances with brilliant storytelling. Thanks to the lack of a Houston date, I couldn’t miss last Friday’s show at the historic Gruene Hall - Texas’ Oldest Dancehall. On supporting duties were the inimitable Vince Herman, alongside his band Great American Taxi. We caught the tail end of their set, including a cover of the ubiquitous “Wagon Wheel” as well as Leadbelly’s “Ain’t No More Cane On The Brazos.” Read on for more about Todd Snider’s performance, including some great photos after the after the jump.

Photos by Anna “Hash Browns” Vernon
Words by Zach "Bacon" Vernon

Shortly after the Taxi left the stage, the crowd towards the back started cheering, and I turned to catch a glimpse of our favorite barefooted guitar-playing poet heading towards the stage. A few minutes later, likely after a quick break to get his head on straight via herbal assistance, a grinning Todd Snider was on Gruene’s historic stage with Great American Taxi at his side. He opened with a perfect version of “The Ballad of Cape Henry” from 2008’s Peace Queer. It’s a first person journey through 1781’s Battle of Cape Henry that captures the harsh class-driven burdens of war, unjustly borne by the peasant class.

Next up was a Texas-dancehall-friendly version of “Easy Money,” from Todd’s first album Songs for the Daily Planet - released way back in 1994. His dead-on assessment of the prosperity-doctrine-driven-American-condition got the standing portions of the crowd moving. His next song blew my mind with some serious freaking jamming led by Vince. The culprit was “Looking for a Job,” a rallying cry for workers-rights from 2006’s The Devil You Know.

Todd slowed it down a bit with his insightful and charming “Ballad of the Kingsmen” – a recounting of the creation of (and backlash against) suggestive, teen-targeted rock music, starting with “Louie, Louie” and ending with Marilyn Manson and Marvin Gaye. After his next song, “Good News Blues,” Todd asked if the crowd had any requests. Almost immediately, he went into his vitriolic-yet-accurate ballad about those right-wing fascists constantly keeping the harmless left-wing hippies down – “Conservative Christian, Right Wing, Republican, Straight, White, American Male”.

“Alright Guy” and “Play a Train Song” soon followed, as a precursor to a run of perfectly-chosen covers. First up was J.R. Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” which had the historic hall hummin’ – followed by Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother.” Todd’s history of seeing Jerry Jeff at Gruene Hall would be expounded upon later on in the evening, but for now, his Portland-centric celebration of outlawism, “D.B. Cooper,” was due. A Vince-dominated version of Rusty Wier’s “Don’t it Make You Wanna Dance” formed a delicious Texas-singer/songwriter sandwich around “D.B. Cooper.” The only real story of the night came next – the story of the Ballad of the Devil’s Backbone Tavern… and it was a great one. With some in the crowd drunkenly and happily iterating the punch-lines of the story, the scene might have been mistaken for a big-name comedian’s set; Todd gave us a little more than what was included on Near Truths and Hotel Rooms, however, emphasizing his personal history with both the historic venue and the friends that led him there.

Next up was “Doublewide Blues” followed by “All that Matters,” with a postscript from Todd encouraging the crowd to “Free your mind, and your ass will follow.” Incredibly, a freaking Grateful Dead cover came next - "I need a Miracle" - and it let both the band and the crowd indulge in some mind-and-ass freedom. After an intense appeal for more from the crowd during a brief encore break, the band came back onstage with a raucous “Bring ‘em Home,” from Todd’s latest record The Excitement Plan. Their epic night in Texas’ oldest dancehall was fittingly closed with the Carter Family’s “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

The long time that I have spent in anticipation of a Todd Snider show seems inconsequential now; this was one of the best shows of my lifetime and entirely worth the wait. Not only was Todd playing with the best band he’s ever had backing him; he was playing in a venue that holds a ton of his personal musical history in its walls, all while managing to pay it recognition and do its formidable legacy justice. Now if he’d just come play in damn Houston...