Sturgill Simpson at Roy Wilkins Auditorium St. Paul MN 9/25/24

This was a great show—the best show I have attended this year. But I almost did not go because of the venue. Roy Wilkins Auditorium, AKA “The Roy,” rivals US Bank Stadium as the worst-sounding venue in the Twin Cities (it is bad enough that it has not been used as a concert venue for several years). Sturgill was stuck playing there because the more appropriate venue, The Armory, had been previously booked by pop star Gracie Abrams. The Roy lived up to its bad reputation for the Sturgill Simpson show, but Sturgill is such a great performer that he transcended The Roy. I suspected Sturgill could pull off this magic trick as the new album is excellent, and he is a great live performer. He doesn’t tour much (it has been eight years since he played in the Twin Cities), so I didn’t want to miss the opportunity. The show sold out instantly (I am not the only one in town “in the know” regarding Sturgill’s greatness).

Sturgill is a no-nonsense performer. He played on a stark stage for three hours with his four-piece band (drums, bass, guitar, and a keyboard player who could also play the sax) – Sturgill is a heck of a guitarist himself – he shredded! There was minimal stage banter, and most songs segued into the next song. Except for his rock album Sound & Fury (2019), Sturgill comes across as an alt-country/Americana singer-songwriter on his recordings, but in concert, he is a rocker (maybe even a jam band rocker). He played a nice cross-section of his catalog and some inspired covers. Each album has a different flavor, but he made their variety seamless in concert.

One of the most incredible things Sturgill and the band did was to start a song with a ZZ Top riff (”La Grange”) as an intro to his Sound & Fury song “A Good Look,“ which then transitioned to The Doors’ “L.A. Woman.” It was an epic fifteen-minute jam. Later in the show, he nodded to the Southern Rock masters The Allman Brothers Band with a cover of “Midnight Rider.” In Minnesota, we are used to being patronized with a cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” but Sturgill just likes the song, as I have seen it on this tour’s setlist in other cities. He performed “Purple Rain” at The Roy in Sturgill Simpson style—I didn’t initially recognize it.

As for his songs, he rocked up the yacht-rock meets the Grateful Dead songs from his new Johnny Blue Skies’ Passage du Desir, which was a fun interpretation. The rest of his catalog mostly took a rock approach, but there were some great country moments, too. Overall, the show was much more jammy than the last time I saw him, which fit Sturgill’s new songs and created an excellent concert vibe.

Sturgill’s vocals sounded fantastic despite his rupturing his vocal cords in 2021—he appears to be fully recovered. His band is tight and can easily switch between country and rock. Sturgill has a shy charisma, which is pretty engaging.

Shout out to poster artist Danny Evans for an epic gig poster:

One more thing. The ticket said an 8:00 start, and damn, it started on time! I love that.

Set List:

1. Juanita
2. Life of Sin
3. Turtles All the Way Down
4. Railroad of Sin
5. The Promise – a When in Rome cover
6. A Whiter Shade of Pale – a Procol Harum cover)
7. Time After All
8. I’d Have to Be Crazy – a Steven Fromholz cover – made famous by Willie Nelson
9. Right Kind of Dream – a Johnny Blue Skies song
10. All Said and Done
11. Long White Line – a Buford Abner of the Swanee River Boys cover
12. Fastest Horse in Town
13. Mint Tea – a Johnny Blue Skies song
14. If the Sun Never Rises Again – a Johnny Blue Skies song
15. A Good Look – with a ZZ Top intro
16. L.A. Woman -a The Doors cover
17. Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)
18. Best Clockmaker on Mars
19. I Don’t Mind
20. You Don’t Miss Your Water – a William Bell cover made famous by Otis Redding and also The Byrds in their country phase
21. Living the Dream
22. One for the Road – a Johnny Blue Skies song
23. Purple Rain – a Prince cover
24. Just Let Go
25. Jupiter’s Faerie – a Johnny Blue Skies song
26. Scooter Blues – a Johnny Blue Skies song
27. Brace for Impact (Live a Little)
28. It Ain’t All Flowers
29. Water in a Well
30. Midnight Rider – a The Allman Brothers Band cover
31. Call to Arms