Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
1.24.26

A couple songs into the beginning of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s jaw dropping set at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre on Friday night, Jason referenced John Prine’s classic record “Sam Stone”, a Vietnam-era track that only seems to gain in relevance with the passage of time. “I remember an interview with John Prine,” Jason reflected, “where he thought and hoped that when he wrote ‘Sam Stone’ the Vietnam War would be over soon, but the war kept going. I don’t want to have to keep singing these angry songs, but things keep happening and I’ll keep singing them.” Like Prine before him, Isbell has an uncanny ability to guide the listener to humanity in inhumane times, to calm in chaos. And for two blissful hours in Seattle, all felt like it could be all right in the world.

Isbell’s songs are conundrums, in that they work equally well as arena-filling rock anthems or stripped to the bone acoustic renditions. Friday’s set, the first of a two show run at the Paramount, included an even mix of the quiet moments and several minute electric guitar solos. Show opener “Crimson and Clay” from Isbell’s newest masterpiece, Foxes in the Snow, was the perfect way to start the 22 song set before “Hope the High Road” and “Only Children” melted away into highlights “Streetlights”, “Chaos and Clothes” and “Alabama Pines.”

Every member of the 400 Unit, from bass extraordinaire Anna Butterss to keyboard and accordionist Derry deBorja all had their moments to shine, with Isbell introducing each organically as the set progressed. An example of just how well oiled a machine the 400 Unit really is was Sadler Vaden’s incredible guitar solo, effortlessly trading back to Isbell to continue the riff he built, all while the drummers never missed a beat. It’s not often during a rock concert, or a concert of any genre for that matter, that there’s roaring applause at multiple times in one song as the song keeps going. Stunning, peerless showmanship all around.

Closing the night with an incredible cover of the activist rock icon Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane” was resplendent. One couldn’t have scripted it any better.

Those lucky enough to attend a Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit show will be transported to another world, if only for a moment. And in that other world, there is hope, there is rock, there is dancing, there is joy. And maybe that’s enough. Maybe that’s exactly what will get us through these dark times.

Setlist:

Crimson and Clay
Hope the High Road
Only Children
Bury Me
Different Days
Streetlights
Decoration Day
Eileen
Chaos and Clothes
Super 8
Dreamsicle
Children of Children
Alabama Pines
Open and Close
Cumberland Gap
Cigarettes and Wine
Cast Iron Skillet
Miles
If It Takes a Lifetime
Ride to Robert’s
King of Oklahoma
Like a Hurricane