* all photographs copyright Alex Myers 2005*
Two nights, one page. Rhett in a white shirt is the first night, red shirt is the second. And what awesome nights they were for both sold out shows. The Independent is a great venue staffed by wonderful folks. The crowd was happy and enthusiastic. Brendan and Noah made sure things went just right. And it was, indeed, Noah's last night on tour. Look for him at a soon-to-be opening pizza joint in East Austin. But the shows? The shows had Ken's vocals, a handsome version of "Iron Road", solo Rhett singing parts of "Question" in French, and about every song you could hope to hear over two nights. Thanks as always to the gentlemen of the Old 97's for your continued generosity and cheer. Photos!
The view from the balcony, through a zoom lens. Night one.
The Old 97's are, from left to right: Ken Bethea, Rhett Miller, Philip
Peeples, and Murry Hammond.
Rhett gets sweaty and breaks a string on the second night.
Ken brings it around on "Rollerskate Skinny".
Murry Hammond during "Iron Road".
Philip Peeples shows us how it's done.
Rhett pauses between songs to survey the crowd.
Murry joins him.
And then launches into some story or another.
"Doreen ..."
"Where is it that you are if you aren't in our bed at home?"
Ken steps up just as the lights drop back down.
Rhett takes a moment to, how do they say, rock out.
Murry proves that you can indeed walk backwards and play guitar at the same time.
Rhett screams for "Victoria".
Ken leans into "Southern Girls".
I still really like "504".
Philip lines it up.
"You're gonna crash on the barrelhead ..."
Rhett, during the first encore.
And now, pictures from the encore of Rhett and Murry that make me happy.
The last shot of the night from the first show.
Second night. I asked Rhett to wear a red shirt. To make the colors pop.
Murry does a great job on "Smokers" every single time I've heard it -- including on this second night of shows.
Rhett demostrates How To Rock Out In The Middle of "Smokers".
"The New Kid, he's got money ..."
Rhett barters during "4 Leaf Clover"
I still can't believe that "Old Familiar Steam" isn't a cover.
Ken smiles before "Coahuila".
"If my heart wuzza, if my heart wuzza car ..."
"Well the car was Japanese ..."
WHAT'S SO GREAT ... about the barrier reef?
This second night was when Rhett told us that he had "un penser pour toi ..." (I apologize right away if he said something else)
And all the girls said yes.
"Cryin' ... Cryin' ... Cryin' DRUNK"
Noah Polk leans down to give someone the setlist from Philip's drumkit.
These are the Old 97's! Thanks to everyone who smiled as I stood next to you and took some photos. And again, thanks to everyone at the Independent for doing such a wonderful job.