Drive-By Guest Spot: Watch Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit Join Forces With Patterson Hood In Oregon

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit stopped by the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby, Oregon outside of Portland on Sunday. Frontman Jason Isbell welcomed his former Drive-By Truckers bandmate Patterson Hood to help kick off the encore in Oregon.

Jason Isbell led the band through the staple “24 Frames” off his 2013 solo album, Something More Than Free, to kick off the concert. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit then turned to material from their latest studio album, Weathervanes, with “Save The World.”

All told, the band played nine songs from the 13-track Weathervanes including “King Of Oklahoma,” “Vestavia Hills,” “Strawberry Woman,” “Death Wish,” “Miles,” “If You Insist,” “Cast Iron Skillet” and more. Jason Isbell concluded the main set with his solo favorite “Cover Me Up.”

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit returned for a three-song encore beginning with Isbell introducing his old friend and former Drive-By Truckers bandmate Patterson Hood. The latter co-founded DBT in 1996 with Mike Cooley in Athens, Georgia although Hood, Cooley and Isbell all hail from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama and have ties with the legendary Muscle Shoals recording tradition. Isbell joined DBT 2001 and would stay on with the band until 2007.

In Oregon — the state Patterson now calls home — Isbell introduced Hood, noting “it just so happens that we’re celebrating the anniversary of an album we put out back in the day called The Dirty South. The new version is coming out the way Patterson wanted it to be in the first place and kind of how I wanted it to be too but I was about 23-years-old, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.”

Patterson Hood and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit proceeded to play The Dirty South (2004) classic “Lookout Mountain,” much like they used to together: loud and raucous with Isbell handling lead and Hood on rhythm. 400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden helped complete the classic three-guitar Drive-By Truckers attack. Patterson led the band through his tune before Isbell took an extended solo on the coda.

Watch Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit welcome Patterson Hood for “Lookout Mountain” below:

Isbell and company went it alone to finish the encore with “If We Were Vampires” off 2015’s The Nashville Sound and “This Ain’t It” from Weathervanes. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit continue their tour on the West Coast tonight.