Phoenix, Arizona—On August 18, 2024, The Dead South made a welcome stop in Phoenix on their Chains and Stakes Tour to play at the Van Buren, with opening act The Builders and the Butchers. The show was completely sold out, and the fan base literally sang every word of every song. The crowd was diverse, ranging in ages from young to elder, and encompassed every walk of life you can name. This is a band that swims against the mainstream, and takes many listeners back to a time when music told stories and created connection.
Admittedly, I’m way behind everyone else in knowing about The Dead South, who formed in 2012. It was only last year that I first heard of The Dead South and the song “In Hell, I’ll Be Good Company.” After diving deeper into their music, I was hooked. Growing up in Colorado, Alabama, and Florida as a child, I had quite a bit of exposure to traditional country and bluegrass music. The Dead South touches on that nostalgia for me, but in a modern way that also appeals to my baser love of all things punk and alternative/new wave music. When I found out The Dead South was coming to Phoenix, it was must-see show for me, and I was not disappointed.
The set design was well done and super creative; attendees were greeted by a stage turned into an old western town, designed with near-perfect 3D perspective and included “windows” that allowed stage lighting to flash through. The lighting effect at times created shadows of the band members on the set walls, almost as if there were ghosts joining them as they played. It was imaginative and served to enhance the vintage feel this band has in its bluegrass roots.
The Builders and the Butchers opened the show, and the Van Buren was packed for this band. By the time The Builders and the Butchers completed their set (and their last show for The Dead South tour), the crowd was in a complete frenzy. Doom’s review of The Builders and the Butchers’ opening set will be coming soon.
While The Builders and the Butchers are a band that dives wholly into the moment in the music and will interact physically with the crowd, The Dead South is more refined in their presentation. The live music is as good as the studio recordings (better, I’d say), and The Dead South are masterful in creating ebbs and flows of the live performance movements. The Dead South will bring the tempo down in a song, even giving a general pause, and then pick up the song again in a faster tempo, giving the audience a breather before whipping them up again in their musical journey. The Dead South band members are in tune with each other (pardon the pun) and quite often move in unison on stage, possibly to send the message that all contribute equally to the success of the show. The set list comprised of fan favorites such as “In Hell, I’ll Be Good Company,” and “Black Lung.”
In a day when many top songs in multiple genres are based on algorithms, The Dead South is a fresh breath of air, where the lyrics tell stories, and the musical composition is acoustically based and there isn’t a single solitary synthesizer note to be heard. The Dead South proves you can be different and be successful in today’s world of musical formulas.
The Dead South Band members:
—Nathaniel Hilts (lead vocals/guitar/mandolin)
—Scott Pringle (guitar/mandolin/vocals)
—Caelum Scott (banjo/drum)
–Danny Kenyon (cello)
