Whitey Morgan brought his signature sound inspired by the outlaw movement of the '70s to the Van Buren in downtown Phoenix, Saturday night (July 24th), channeling the legendary Mr. Lucky's to a full house that was still celebrating the return of live music, particularly to this indoor venue with its flawless acoustics.
His pre-roll intro music was "The Regular" by Klutch, and from there, he proceeded to play for nearly two hours, stopping only to briefly and repeatedly share his appreciation for the audience for showing up, and to once offer a joke about the "Quarantine 15" phenomenon, as he noted, "It's good to be back. I won't judge you for that extra 25 if you don't judge me."
He dedicated "Low Down on the Back Streets" to his grandfather, and gave a nod to "all the ex-wives who are worth writing about" as an intro to his cover of Waylon Jennings' "We Had It All."
His originals reflect the influence of traditional country on his own sound, and his covers are a complement to those influences, rather than a misguided pandering to the history of country music. Fan favorites included "Bad News," "Around Here," "Me and the Whiskey," "Ain't Gonna Take It Any More," "Just Got Paid," and closing number "Sinner."
Justin Jeansonne packed a lot of music into his 40-minute opening set, and fans who arrived early enough to catch him were in for a treat, as he more than proved himself with outstanding musicianship.
Setlist:
1. Bad News
2. Buick City
3. Cocaine Train
4. Goodbye Dixie
5. Low Down on the Back Streets
6. Honky Tonk Hell
7. Hard Scratch Pride
8. That's How I Got to Memphis (Tom T. Hall cover)
9. Another Round
10. We Had It All (Waylon Jennings cover)
11. Goin' Down Rockin'
12. Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue
13. Me and the Whiskey
14. I've Been a Long Time Leaving (Waylon Jennings cover)
15. Around Here
16. Swinging Doors (Merle Haggard cover)
17. Ain't Gonna Take It Any More
18. Fire on the Mountain (Marshall Tucker Band cover)
19. Just Got Paid
20. I'm on Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)
21. Sinner
