Son Volt shattered that notion Friday night at the Paladium in a 100-minute set where the guitars were loud and the drumming was powerfully insistent, pleasing the 200 people inside the west Salt Lake City venue.
Son Volt formed after leader Jay Farrar left the pioneering alt-country band Uncle Tupelo in the 1990s, while bandmate Jeff Tweedy formed Wilco. The first incarnation of Farrar's band followed the quieter, more traditional style of country rock, but the band fizzled out in the late 1990s.
The second incarnation of Son Volt was created in late 2006 with Farrar as the only original member, and this new Son Volt, notably with the 2007 album "The Search," dropped much of the country influence and emphasized the rock.
The new approach showed Friday, as drummer Dave Bryson, bassist Andrew Duplantis, lead guitarist Chris Masterson and keyboardist/steel guitarist Derry De Borja supplemented Farrar's deep, plaintive vocals that were often hard to decipher lyrically but in way was used as an instrument just as important as any other on stage. Bryson, who sometimes even employed mallets to bash away at his drum set, was the anchor that led many end-of-song jams, loosening up the band.
The set began disappointingly, as the band sounded muddy as the sound engineer struggled to find the right mix. But by the time the fourth song kicked in, with Farrar replacing his electric guitar with an acoustic one, the band settled into a groove and better sound that continued all the way through the three-song encore. Farrar alternated between the electric and acoustic guitar all night.
Much of the audience - who appeared to be in their 30s and 40s - reacted more favorably to songs from Son Volt's 1995 classic "Trace," and Farrar failed to disappoint, even playing the band's biggest hit, "Drown," from the album. Other "Trace" songs, such as "Tear-Stained Eye" and "Windfall," still had a melancholy edge while benefitting from the amped-up versions live. Other highlights were "Creosote" and a cover of a Waylon Jennings tribute song to Hank Williams Sr.
The stage and lighting reflected the band's all-business aesthetic, with two blue and two red spotlights offering the band's only decoration. With swirling red ceiling fans soothing the heat on a warm night, the atmosphere of the Paladium seemed transformed into a comfortable honky-tonk.
