Athens, Ga., rockers the Drive-By Truckers followed up 2008’s revelatory Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, a stripped-down and largely acoustic album recorded after guitarist Jason Isbell left the band, with this year’s The Big To-Do, one of the group’s most rocking albums yet, a disc that displays particular debt to the roots rock of Tom Petty. Drive-By Truckers continually fluctuate between rowdy Southern rock and sensitive alt-country, but the constant is the bittersweet songwriting of Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, both of who pen simple but touching tales of common people trying their best to do the right thing. This show is presented in conjunction with Saturday’s Farm Aid concert.
Drive-By Truckers
Tonight @ The Pabst Theater, 9 p.m.