Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr at the Basement – 5/21

These guys have been getting a lot of hype lately, and I was very excited to spend my last possible minutes on Earth (It was the day of the supposed Rapture) with these guys.  The tiny stage at the Basement was adorned with giant-bulbed “J’s” and “R’s”, and given the lack of a dressing room, I knew we were in for a treat when I saw some fellas in racing suits run through the front entrance.  These guys are alive on stage, and a lot of fun to see.  They are obviously pretty new on the scene because they only have a handful of original songs that they played for us, and used a lot of the rest of the time to rip through a few fun, different, and unlikely covers of The Beach Boys “God Only Knows”, Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love”, Gil Scott Heron’s “We Almost Lost Detroit”, and, oddly, Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional”.  Of course, maybe covers are actually the new wave that is sweeping across the nation, as suggested in this San Francisco article about Chef’s covering Chef’s and music cover pairings.

It was a great time, and these guys definitely have the energy, aptitude, and publicity to go anywhere they want.  I look forward to the next time and some new songs.  I’ll be honest though.  The opener, The Generationals, were the highlight of the night for me.

Maybe you can get lucky and check them out on tour together in a town near you.