Live Exclusives: Jason Isbell, Lollapalooza

All the concert news ‘n’ reviews that’s fit to print.

By Fred Mills

More concert coverage from your friendly neighborhood BLURT – this time, we’ve got Jason Isbell in Asheville, and the Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago.

• *Lavinia Jones Wright was our go-to gal at Lollapalooza last weekend in Chicago, August 1-3. Observed Jones, “Whether it was by geography (the Lollapalooza site – Chicago's Grant Park – is long and narrow with main stages as far as a twenty minute walk from each other) or by chronology (this year's fest featured old favorites – Nine Inch Nails, Toadies – and newcomers – MGMT, Yeasayer), tough choices had to be made.”

• *Yours truly saw Jason Isbell and his 400 Unit guitarist Browan Lollar knock an audience dead in Asheville on July 23. Uttered I, “[Their] performance frequently reached intensity levels to rival their electric incarnation. One observer remarked to me that they brought to mind Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds at their most high-flying, and as anyone knows from seeing a favorite artist go the unplugged route and revisit rock songs from a fresh perspective, acoustic guitars don’t automatically breed “mellow.”

Check ‘em out at the provided links, or simply scroll down the BLURT front page to the reviews section. We’ve also got new book, DVD and CD reviews being added daily.

[Isbell Photo Credit: Andy Tennille]