Jesse Dayton & The Railbenders 12.4.21

Globe Hall
Denver, CO

Words by Martin Smith (Whiskey & Wax Trax)
Photos by Melissa Evans (medoesphotos)

Jesse Dayton had the house rockin’ on Saturday night at The Globe Hall in Denver at his show/book tour. His new memoir, Beaumonster, is filled with stories about working with everybody from Waylon Jennings to Rob Zombie. He said it’s a whole lot cooler doing a book tour telling his stories and performing on stage than sitting in a bookstore. After Jesse finished his set, The Railbenders took over and had the sold-out venue singing along to every one of their country tunes.

Jesse Dayton opened his set with his hit “Daddy was a Badass” and like Daddy, Jesse is a badass. If you haven’t heard of him, he is a writer, actor, filmmaker, and legendary guitar player having played with the likes of Waylon, Willie, Johnny Cash and so many others. On this night he shredded the guitar and sang some of his tunes like the rocking “Holy Ghost Rock n Roller”, “May Have to do it (Don’t Have to Like it)”, and “The Way We Are” backed by The Railbenders band. He slowed it down and played a couple of solo acoustic songs including new song “Ballad of Boyd Elder” and sweet tribute to his childhood nanny “Mrs. Victoria (Beautiful Thing).” He also paid homage to some of those outlaw country stars who came before him and covered songs by Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard. He even has a Waylon tattoo on his wrist. Jesse always looks cool as hell on stage with his greaser vibe and he always brings it with his country/rock n’ roll/rockabilly sounds. He closed out his set with what he called the “dumbest song he’s ever written” but it is the one that has made him the most money, “I’m at Home Gettin’ Hammered (While She’s out Gettin’ Nailed).” He wrote it for the fictitious band Banjo & Sullivan for Rob Zombie’s Devil’s Rejects movie and it has since become one of his most popular songs.

The Railbenders closed the show and had a raucous crowd singing along to every song. They are one of those bands that you have to see live to really appreciate completely. They were much more impressive performing on the stage vs the studio albums and it’s easy to see why the Denver based country band was able to sell out the Globe Hall two nights in a row. They played several of their hits like “I-70 Westbound” and “It’s Time to Party.” And party they did. Some people might refer to the age of a majority of the crowd as “boomers” and it seemed like some of them had some pent up partying they needed to get out. There were people dancing, hugging strangers, and one even throwing-up in a trash can. And I just had to laugh at the guy who kept using his phone to take video of the performance while lighting up the whole room with his flash on. Jesse returned to the stage for a special treat as The Railbenders did an amazing cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s tune, “Black Rose.” The Railbenders have been playing country tunes for 20 years and they played hits from their debut album including “Minus One.” They also played some of their older covers including Bocephus’ “OD’d in Denver.” The crowd went crazy when they played their hit “Whiskey Rain” as part of the encore and things got even better when they were joined on stage by The Jons who provided horns for the last two songs of the night including Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

Between sets Jesse Dayton was signing copies of his book. He sold quite a few copies and many discussions could be overheard about people who were really excited to read it. The book is a memoir including crazy stories about Jesse’s life as a musician and hanging out and playing with the who’s who in the music biz. The book has chapter titles like “Willie’s Amplifier”, “Set Break: Hanging Out in Houston with Guy and Townes”, “Rob Zombie, Captain Clegg, and Halloween”, “Zombex with Malcolm McDowell, Sid Haig and Corey Feldman”, and “Punk from the Country: On Tour with Mike Ness”... so you can see why I can’t wait to read it.

The Globe Hall is an excellent venue to watch a show. The sound system is amazing and it never feels too crowded even at a sold-out show like this one. It also has an awesome patio with some cool (but also kind of random) paintings of Anthony Bourdain and Run DMC hanging on the fence. There is an airstream presumably where the artists hang out. The venue is tucked away in the middle of a neighborhood so it is kind of its own destination away from the rest of the city's more crowded entertainment districts. It was the perfect venue for this honky tonkin’ rock n’ rollin’ show.

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www.jessedayton.com

www.railbenders.com