We were barely two songs into this gig before Dale Watson
voiced his opinion on the Blake Shelton controversy. Not only was the dogged
modern day flag bearer of traditional country music staunchly defending his
beliefs on the ‘jackasses and old farts’ assertion but he had hastily written a
song which didn’t take too kind a view on his fellow performer. Conciliation
was certainly not on the agenda and at least you know where you stand with Dale
Watson. The seasoned adopted Texan knows his preferred style, is good at
reproducing it and you know what you’re going to get at one of his gigs –
curfew curtailing value for money traditional country music.Having built up a loyal UK following over the years, most of the audience packing the backroom of The Bullingdon in Oxford were of the converted variety and they were not disappointed with a stream of old favourites interwoven with selected tracks from the brand new EL RANCHO AZUL album. The strength of song delivery mixed with enlightening tales aided by a recurring dry comic routine saw Dale on top form with the latest line up of the Lone Stars now settled and comprising of Chris Crepps on bass, Don Pawlak on pedal steel and Mike Bernal keeping time with his percussion skills. The high quality four-piece combo rattled through a set that evolved during the evening assisted by audience requests and a couple of covers from Watson’s heroes, one being Ray Price, ironically a hero of Blake Shelton as well.
Having recently reviewed the new album, the tracks were
familiar and Dale chose a good cross section to preview it during the planned
part of the set. ‘Thanks to Tequila’, ‘I
Lie When I Drink’ and ‘I Drink to
Remember’ adequately represented the alcohol segment of the record. The more
refined songs from the album included the Texas Two Sep dance number ‘Quick Quick Slow Slow’, complete with
full instructions, and the waltz-like sentimental tune ‘Daughter’s Wedding Song’. Listening to these songs live definitely
re-enforced the positive conclusions drawn from reviewing the album.
As you can imagine, a two hour set of three minute songs
develops into a lengthy list and without recounting it in its entirety, there
were a number of notable highlights. ‘Country
My Ass’, not surprisingly getting audience participation was one of the
concluding numbers. The requested western swing tune ‘Cowboy Lloyd Cross’ showcased the band’s potential for versatility,
while other personal favourites on the evening were ‘South of Round Rock Texas’, ‘Whiskey and God’, ‘Honky Tonk Wizard of Oz’ and one of your trademark Dale
Watson trucking songs ‘Truck Stop in La
Grange’. 
Dale gave the crowd a choice of Merle Haggard songs and
picked up on a suggestion to play ‘Working
Man Blues’ over ‘Mamma’s Hungry Eyes’.
For the Ray Price number ‘Crazy Arms’,
Dale invited the lead singer of the Doggone Honkabilly Band to deliver lead
vocals as an appreciation for putting together the following night’s London
show .http://dalewatson.com/index.htm
