Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Settle In at the Ryman

Upon entering the Ryman on Monday night, all the guests (The Spin included) were handed a program bearing a line drawing of the Mother Church and the lineup for six nights of shows on the front, with space to jot down the night's set list on the back. We use the word "guests" for a particular reason: Jason Isbell's almost-annual residencies on Fifth Avenue have become eagerly anticipated capital-E Events without losing their intimate, family-reunion-like quality. From the evidence of the first night's show, this year's historic six-night run looks to continue the tradition of striking the perfect balance. Touches like the printed programs and Isbell's devotion to gathering with a smaller audience at the Ryman (as opposed to packing in a massive crowd for just one or two nights at Bridgestone Arena across the street) keep things feeling familial. At the same time, the extended run and a planned live stream of Friday night's show help him make the connection with more and more people. 

And make no mistake: No one held anything back on the opening night.

Monday night — the first of six, all of which will be opened by women — started off with a performance by The Secret Sisters. Like the headliner, the immensely talented duo of Laura and Lydia Rogers hails from Green Hill, Ala. (Monday, they were backed by Nashville-residing brothers Cheyenne and Will Medders on bass and drums.) The group had plenty of fans in the audience, but anyone who wasn't one already was won over quickly by their breathtaking vocals and charming onstage banter. "If you're in a good mood don't get attached to it," Laura said early on. "We don't play happy songs." 

That's true enough, as proven by the 45-minute set including tunes from all three of their albums, but it isn't at all reflective of the simply delightful demeanor of the artists themselves. Nor could the subject matter of their songs — one of which Rogers described as a murder song, a sequel to another murder song from a previous record — keep us from smiling as they effortlessly delivered superb harmonies worthy of the hallowed venue. Laura noted that playing the revered stage along with a Green Hill boy made good was a mighty special moment, and the ovation they received at the end of their set made clear the feeling was mutual. 

What came next shouldn't be described as flawless — only because that word connotes anodyne, mechanical execution, whereas the nearly-two-hour, 19-song set Jason Isbell and his mighty 400 Unit dropped on the Ryman audience was a damned powerful rock ’n' roll show, with equal parts sentiment and snarl. The Spin has seen Isbell & Co. do their thing at the Ryman a few times now (we were there in 2013, 2014 and 2015), and the band only gets better with age — tight but supple, like a broken-in glove, able to bend and flex at will —  just as Isbell's vocal prowess seems only to grow, and the quality of the songs he continues to write make it so that he could build his set list by throwing darts at his catalog and never fail to enthrall his audience. 

That said, what Isbell has done over the years is craft a set that evolves around songs that have become the stuff of ritual for fans. The thrill of the unexpected is expertly punctuated by moments you wait for like Christmas morning: the gentle picking that opens "Decoration Day"; the appearance of Derry deBorja's accordion for "Codeine"; the band's quiet retreat from the stage, making way for Isbell and Amanda Shires to ease into "Cover Me Up," followed by the cathartic collective roar of support when Isbell sings "I swore off that stuff / Forever this time." 

These days, the set is framed by tunes from Isbell's latest LP, this year's chart-conquering The Nashville Sound. The group opened Monday night's show by charging into that record's hard-rocking "Cumberland Gap" as the glowing bird-and-anchor logo — modeled after a tattoo Isbell and Shires share — pulsed and shimmered behind them. From there, they worked through tunes from The Nashville Sound and 2015's Something More Than Free before reaching back for a string of old favorites: "Tour of Duty", the compelling and heartbreaking "Dress Blues" and the aforementioned "Decoration Day." Notably absent from the set was "Outfit," a staple since Isbell's stint with the Drive-By Truckers that, despite the reliably enthusiastic shouting from a random asshole, didn't get played this time. Maybe some time off is good.

Throughout the night, members of the formidable band displayed their musical might by dueling with Isbell himself. Isbell and Shires stood face-to-face to trade licks several times, while the frontman and his phenomenal lead guitarist Sadler Vaden stunned us with a bout of escalating electric guitar work during "Never Gonna Change." 

After closing the main set with The Nashville Sound's centerpiece "Anxiety"  — and letting the crowd work for an encore with some five minutes of whooping and hollering and beating on the Ryman's wooden pews — Isbell and the band returned and delivered one of those performances that you tell your grandkids about. Only a week after the death of Tom Petty, the band paid homage with a ferocious rendition of "Refugee" that very nearly blew the roof off of the Mother Church. In a week full of musical tributes to the rock legend, a clear and strong influence on Isbell (among dozens of other outstanding songwriters), it's hard to imagine one that could eclipse this. 

With the crowd still cheering at full volume, Isbell began picking the intro to "If We Were Vampires," a sequel of sorts to "Cover Me Up" that explores the notion that the passing of time and the inevitability of death is what makes the time we get on Earth worth experiencing at all. It was a fitting way to end the set. Isbell has five more shows left this week, and we're confident he'll be calling the Ryman home for years to come. We only get to hear so many songs in a lifetime, but as long as Jason Isbell is showing up at the Ryman to play them, we'll show up to hear them. 

Set List:

Cumberland Gap

24 Frames

Hope the High Road

Something More Than Free

Tour of Duty

Dress Blues

Decoration Day

White Man's World

Codeine 

Chaos and Clothes

Never Gonna Change

The Last of My Kind

Travelling Alone

Flying Over Water

Cover Me Up

Super 8

Anxiety

Encore:

Refugee (Tom Petty cover)

If We Were Vampires

See our slideshow for more photos.

In The Spin — the Scene's live review column — staffers and freelance contributors review concerts under a collective byline.