Zach Bryan - The Great American Bar Scene (July 4th, 2024) Album • Page 10

What about his 9/11 song

 

someone had to fucking ruin the nice time we were having on the 4th by blasting the toby keith 9/11 song

 

There was more of a chance I was listening to Nelly and Nelly Furtado in 2001, if I'm being honest.

 

But without that song existing, I feel like Team America: World Police would have fallen flat a little bit.

 

He opened a west coast run for American Aquarium a couple years ago and stole the show for sure.

 

Finally feel like I’ve had the chance to digest this album to some extent! I absolutely love it, but it does start to feel a little bloated at times.

 

"Bar Scene is Bryan’s Ant-Man and the Wasp"

That is so mean.

 

Weird review.

 

craig is one of the best

 

I really love a lot of the album but it could have been 14-15 songs.

Take out Mechanical Bull... so the poem goes straight into Bar Scene, which is the real thesis of the album
Remove two of Bass Boat, Towers, and Northern Thunder... too many slow songs in that section so it drags
Replace Bathwater with Boons as the closer... I'd love to hear a "full" version of Bathwater, this one sounds incomplete

None of those songs are "bad", just the ones I would have left off if I were crafting the best listening experience.

 

Wet.

Hot.

American Nights

 

The conversation about getting into country is so interesting to me. I’ve seen so many friends in their mid-30s begin to make a pivot from punk-adjacent to country leaning.

As a queer person I find it very hard to relate to country music in a live setting. The crowds in my area (upstate NY) have always felt so predominantly masculine and very much not welcoming to gender non-conforming/queer people.

Kacey has done a good job about creating inclusive vibes at her live shows but even if the male artists attempt that (which I hope Zach, Isbell, etc do) the general crowd can sometimes bring upon uneasiness for me. The amount of alcohol and fights at country shows gives me some reservation (worked at a LN shed for 4 summers and the crowds at those country shows were aggressively drunk).

 

I totally get this and empathize. I think it's important to remember as I also start this swing back towards folk and Americana (no way I'm going full radio country) and that my roots in adjacent genres is rockabilly and more alt-country which would not stand for intolerance and hate.

 

This is something I understand a lot more than “I hate country but…” The shows really do feel extremely uncomfortable and male dominant at times

 

the only country shows I’ve felt comfortable attending have been festival sets, and those acts are usually leaning in that alt-country direction anyway. Sturgill, Charles Wesley, Kacey, Isbell, and Trousdale have all put on amazing fest sets the last 3-4 years at Bonnaroo/coachella.

 

Just listened. Very good album. Summer vibes all around.

 

The summer of Great American Bar Scene and Passage du Desir.

 

I really like this album, but I'm certainly not getting all the summer vibes everyone else seems to be getting from it.

I'd say this is the opposite of a summer album tbh.

 

I don't feel summer at all either

 

Was drinking miller high life’s and playing with my kids in the backyard for the last week. Pretty fucking good summer album if you ask me.

 

My wife calls this 'going to bed music'...




...and she ain't talkin bout da hippity dippity

 

I completely agree with the sentiment around what these shows are probably like. I haven’t been to see any of them live & mostly for that reasoning. I like listening to these records by Isbell & Zach, but I have zero desire to be in that environment.

I’m not queer, but I desire inclusive environments where the art of songwriting is the focal point. In my experience & observation, the bigger these guys get the more insufferable their crowds start becoming.

there was a point when I had done anything to see Isbell, but those were around the Southeastern days & the vibe of the shows (depending on where/when they are) has seemed to shift.

theres still plenty of country (adjacent) acts that I think create that environment like John Moreland, Watchhouse, Jeffrey Martin, Ruston Kelly…

I guess all of that to say is that once they get to a certain height of fame, they really become “record bands” for me because the live environment seems not great and what I’m looking for.

 

Isbell shows, from my experience, don’t draw the kind of shitty crowd you guys are talking about.

 

ZB crowds definitely do haha