Oct 285 min read

HOUSE OF BLUES BOSTON: THE DEAD SOUTH

Photos by: Joanna Gleason

Review by: Jean Senat Fluery

October 26, 2024 – Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! There are three words to describe the Wagons Band and The Dead South’s performance at Citizens House of Blues in Boston. The Saturday’s show across the emblematic stadium Fenway Park was terrific. More than two thousands of fans were present. It was a great night of music.

The sold out show started at 8:00 p.m. with Wagons Band as the opener. The Australian singer songwriter, musician, radio & TV personality and front man of the outlaw country rock band began with bluesy ominous acoustic guitar riff. He played Love Me Like I Love You followed by other lovely songs such as Don’t Be Down and Out, Big City Blues, Keep Your Eyes Off My Sister, etc.

Wagons Band connection with the audience was spontaneous. Playing a mix of acoustic House, Punk, Soul, Experimental, Prog Rock, the duo made the fans crazy. They danced, sang, jumped…The funny part of the show was when Henry invited one of the fans who celebrated his 23 years of anniversary to join him on the stage. That invitation brought a positive emotion, where everyone in the audience was laughing, applauding… It was a happy moment that reasoned deeply with a strong feeling of happiness and release of emotional tension.

ABOUT WAGONS BAND

Wagons are an Australian alt-country band from Melbourne, Australia, led by singer/songwriter/television and radio presenter Henry Wagons. The band released seven albums in Australia, and made the U.S. debut with 2011’s Rumble, Shake and Tumble.

In the late 1990’s, Henry Wagons played as a keyboardist in a group called Dworzec. He performed as a bassist in the rock bands Breaking the Law and the Ancients. In 1999, he formed Alta-country rock band wagons (band) who have released seven albums in Australia between 2000 and 2014. On 6 March 2013, Henry recorded Upstairs at United Vol 9. He presented 7 songs including an Elvis cover and a Waylon Jennings cover. His debut full-length solo album After What I Did Last Night was released in February 2016 on ABC Music. In 2022, Wagons released his first solo album Expecting Company, featuring collaborations with Alison Mosshart, Robert Forster, Grossling, Patience Hodgson, Canada’s Jenn Grant and others.

The following was the release of his 2023 Aria & Air Award nominated album South of Everywhere. In 2024, Wagons returned with his highly-anticipated fourth solo album, The Four Seasons.

Of the album, Henry says: “This record was so liberating to make for me. I held no thought back. It’s me at my most creativity free. I didn’t consciously try to stick to expectations or genre…I just let loose in the studio, and in the end, my twangy explorations, in both lyric-driven song and instrumental, landed in a cohesive mega-yacht ride. It’s an album to sink into the armchair, along with your favorite beverage and listen out for the surprises while you drift away.”

Grandson of Henry Krips, a Viennese emigre, principal conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Henry Wagons was named by the Age Melbourne Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most influential People in Melbourne in 2009.

WAGONS BAND AVERAGE SETLISTS 2024

Love Me Like I Love You (Wagons song)
Don’t Be Down and Out
I Don’t Know When It is I’m Gonna Die
Drive all Night Till Dawn (Wagons song)
Freight Train (Going South)
Felix Granger the Finger Pickin’ Boy
Keep Your Eyes Off My Sister
King Hit
I Cooked You a Meal
Cold Burger, Cold Fries
Big City Blues
Friends of Mine
Willie Nelson (Wagons song)

At 9:15 p.m. after a brief intermission, the headliner The Dead South entered the stage. The Canadian bluegrass band active since 2012 have specialized in a style of bluegrass that is heavily influenced by rock music even though they play acoustic instruments.

The fans went crazy as the band started to play their first song “doesn’t feel as dark” with the mandolin, the guitar and the banjo covered the lyrics. Nate Hilts, the leader of the group, wore a wide brimmed hat that made the quartet look at bit the Amish famers. The trademark outfits, white shirts with black pants and black suspenders made the group very singular. “We got the clothes from thrift stores.” Hilts said.

Exploring themes of love, life, the death, and all the drinking and boozing in between, the Canadian bluegrass quintet conquered once again during their 2024 Tour in the U.S. the heart of many thousands of fans in Massachusetts who showed up at the House of Blues to see live their performance.

The Dead South’s presentation at the House of Blues was phenomenal. The presentation was terrific: A good moment of release for the audience. It was effectively a time of the present, when the past was left behind and the future was set aside. It was a special time of focused only in live music and heightened awareness. Sadness and depression were consciously excluded.

As read in the Oberlin Review: “Although their strings broke, the musicians kept playing with the same vigor. They stomped out and danced to the beat, and encouraged the audience to dance and clap along.”

ABOUT THE DEAD SOUTH

The folk-bluegrass rock band based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, was formed in 2012 as a quartet by Nathaniel Hilts (vocals. guitar, mandolin), Scott Pringle (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Danny Kenyon (cello, bass, vocals), and Colton Crawford ( banjo).

Inspiring first by two great bluegrass bands Trampled by Turtles and Old Crow Medicine Show, the group decided to perform their own version of traditional folk and bluegrass. The group released their debut five-song 2013 EP The Ocean Went Mad and We Were to Blame. Their 2014 album Good Company was released by German label Devil Duck Records. The album’s single “In Hell, I’ll Be in Good Company” is credited with contributing to the breakthrough release for the band.

The Dead South have released four studio albums: Good Company (2014), Illusion and Doubt (2016), Sugar & Joy (Six Shooter Records, 2019), Chains & Stakes (2024), three Eps – The Ocean Went Mad and We Were to Blame (2013), and Easy Listening for Jerks Pt 1 and Pt 2 (both Six Shooter Records, 2022), and a live album, Served Live (Six Shooter Records, 2020).

THE DEAD SOUTH AVERAGE SETLISTS 2024