Charley Crockett: Age of the Ram Tour

5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, WA
2.19.26

We’ll just get right to it: Charley Crockett is incredible live. If he and his band are touring near you, go see it. He’s currently touring in support of his newly announced album, Age of the Ram, and it’s a show you won’t want to miss. For a more in-depth review of his tour kick-off in Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre on February 19th, read on.

The breakneck rate at which Crockett churns out records (15 since 2015, all consistently critically-acclaimed) is a mirror image for the pace of his live performance: high velocity, full momentum, all gas, no brakes. At the rate Crockett’s going, he’ll be as prolific as friend and collaborator, Willie Nelson, in just a few decades time. While the work of many artists may be watered down by such voluminous production, or by fitting a bunch of songs into a setlist, for Crockett it works. It is, paradoxically, distillation through volume. 

Crocket’s rich baritone was accompanied by his extraordinary backing band, The Blue Drifters. Between the pedal and lap steel, electric guitar, keys, drums, and bass, this is a unit that’s tight and precise, without being mechanical: it’s somehow wabi-sabi and six sigma. The night’s songs, from “Kentucky Too Long” to “El Paso to Denver” pulled extensively from Crockett’s prodigious catalog, namely Dollar A Day, $10 Cowboy, Lonesome Drifter, and the aforementioned forthcoming Age of the Ram.

Underlying it all was Crockett’s otherworldly ability to plumb deep emotion from simple, honest storytelling. The perfect moment for this was when The Blue Drifters took a break for a few songs, Crockett holding down the stages on his lonesome for a few acoustic songs. Perhaps the night’s biggest highlight was when then band returned for a truly astonishing rendition of the single “Fire and Brimstone.” Suffice it to say: Crockett is the real deal and The Blue Drifters more than hold their own.

An incredible night.

A special note: opening for Charley was the local and beloved Americana band, The Brudi Brothers. It’s not often that a capacity audience arrives for the opener of a show, so that in and of itself says a lot about the relevance and demand of brothers Johannes, Conrad, and George. Charismatically crooning their way through effortlessly catchy songs, like the viral “Me More Cowboy Than You”, the Brudi’s were the perfect way to kick-off the night. 

Review and photos by Bodi Hallett (Sattva Photo)

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