Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit Debuts Dire Straits Cover In Nashville

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit premiered a cover of Dire Straits’ “Brothers In Arms” on Sunday at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Last night was the band’s fourth of seven shows that make up their 2019 residency at the famed venue.

Isbell and his band, along with his wife Amanda Shires on fiddle, treated fans to an 18-song main set featuring material from various eras of Jason’s career. After opening with “Super 8” off Isbell’s 2013 solo album, Southeastern, the band dug in on “Hope The High Road.” Then, “24 Frames” was followed by the recently debuted “Overseas.” Next came the pairing of “Something More Than Free,” “Tour Of Duty” and “Last On My Kind” before Jason led the group on the residency’s first versions of “Traveling Alone” and “The Life You Chose.”

The return of “The Blue” from the group’s self-titled 2009 studio album came towards the end of the main set. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit had previously only performed the song twice — once a piece during their 2017 and 2018 Ryman residencies — since 2012 as per Setlist.FM. Another rarity followed as “Chaos & Clothes” was played for the first time this year. A run of “Flying Over Water,” “Cover Me Up” and “Decoration Day” closed out the set.

Last night’s encore began with the Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit debut of “Brothers In Arms.” Dire Straits originally released the song as the title track of their 1985 album. Isbell took the solo performed by Mark Knopfler in Dire Straits’ version. The band went on to end the evening with “Never Gonna Change” from Jason’s Drive-By Truckers days. The residency continues on Tuesday.

Watch fan-shot video captured by mem2lbc of last night’s “Brothers In Arms” in below: