Concert review: Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen make for great drinking buddies
The secret to any great drinking song is commiseration. The listener may not have a beer in their hand (these days, maybe nothing alcoholic at all), but when the song’s done right, the listener can recall all the life events that might lead a person to drink — both good and bad. Heartache. That dead-end job. A celebration. A wedding. A funeral. The best drinking songs are about shared human experiences.
As such, Randy Rogers’ and Wade Bowen’s “Hold My Beer and Watch This” show Wednesday night at House of Blues Dallas felt like grabbing a beer with two friends at a dive bar after a long day of work. The show was less about booze and more about two buddies chronicling decades of friendship through music.
The two came up through the Texas country music circuit 20 years ago, and became friends when they realized they were opening for the same artists.
“We called ourselves the B Team,” Bowen joked from the stage Wednesday.
In 2015, the duo started a series of collaboration albums called “Hold My Beer & Watch This,” full of songs about beer, life on the road and their friendship, with the occasional cover song thrown in. Wednesday night’s show stuck to that theme and turned the House of Blues into a honkytonk.
Rogers and Bowen took the stage at 8:15 p.m. to the “Dukes of Hazzard” theme song, both in T-shirts, jeans and boots, Rogers in a cowboy hat and Bowen in a ball cap. Just two good ‘ol boys, never meanin’ no harm.
From atop two bar stools, they started with “Hold My Beer Vol. 2” cut “Habits” before trading off playing acoustic versions of their own songs. They were joined by Bowen’s guitar player Nick Gardner and Randy Rogers Band fiddle player Brady Black before the full No Standards Band took the stage for the “Hold My Beer” songs.
While the setlist stuck to what the duo had planned for their show at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth last month, the fun of these shows is hearing the jokes and banter in between each song.
Rogers had a story about how he was thankful for a girlfriend who cheated on him while he was on the road, because that experience helped him write the songs for his breakthrough album “Rollercoaster.” “Glad she got that hickey,” he joked.
When it came time to get to the “Hold My Beer” portion of the show, Bowen introduced it as “true-ass country music” full of sad songs and songs about life.
And some of them were sad, but the crowd got rowdy, especially during songs like “In the Next Life,” “Lady Bug,” “Rodeo Clown,” “Saturday Night” and “Kiss Me in the Dark.” A bra was thrown on stage. Much beer was consumed. People were two-stepping in the back of the crowd. By the time the encore rolled around, everyone was singing along to a cover of “Streets of Bakersfield.”
After all, it’s better to drink (and play music) with friends.
RANDY ROGERS AND WADE BOWEN SETLIST, HOUSE OF BLUES, DALLAS TEXAS (AUG. 16, 2023)
Habits
Sun Shines on a Dreamer (Wade Bowen)
Buy Myself a Chance (Randy Rogers Band)
West Texas Rain (Bowen)
Interstate (RRB)
Honky Tonk Roll (Bowen)
Fast Car (RRB)
When Love Comes Around (Bowen)
Can’t Slow Down (RRB)
Who I Am (Bowen)
In My Arms Instead (RRB)
We Ain’t The Only Ones
Standards
In the Next Life
‘Til It Does
Rodeo Clown
It’s a Beautiful Day
It’s Been a Great afternoon (Merle Haggard cover)
Lady Bug
Rhinestoned
Warm Beer
I Moved Into a Bar
Saturday Night (Bowen)
Kiss Me In the Dark (RRB)
Hold My Beer
Encore
Streets of Bakersfield (Buck Owens/Dwight Yoakam cover)
