After a seven-year hiatus, Tyler Childers finally performed in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena, the city’s largest indoor concert venue. Formerly known as KeyArena, the arena was renamed after a renovation backed in part by Amazon. The name refers to the Climate Pledge initiative, which calls on companies to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. The venue is also billed as one of the world’s most environmentally friendly, using renewable electricity, rainwater and other measures to reduce its environmental impact.
From the opening minutes, the Kentucky country singer and his seven-piece band set a breakneck pace: the energetic “Rustin’ in the Rain” gave way to the tender “All Your’n,” followed by more eccentric songs infused with psychedelic rock, swamp rock and country funk. The genre-blending sounded especially at home before a Seattle audience accustomed to supporting independent artists and unusual musical projects. Fans of alternative country here are receptive to combining bluegrass and acoustic traditions with experimental sounds and danceable rhythms, adding to the city’s reputation as a center of grunge and alternative rock.
Songs from “Snipe Hunter,” Childers’ new album recorded with famed and controversial producer Rick Rubin, occupied a prominent place in the two-hour set. Childers has moved noticeably away from the familiar neotraditional country associated with Appalachian working-class culture, bluegrass and folk. Although fans had mixed reactions to the experiments, critics praised the album, and the biting song “Bitin’ List” earned the musician his first Grammy Award, for Best Country Song.
The concert stood out not only for its music but also for its unusual theatricality. Before performing “Bitin’ List,” Childers improvised for nearly eight minutes, joking about people he supposedly wanted to infect with rabies. The stage design evoked a 1970s television show or a Las Vegas casino, while the artist himself shifted from comedic host to unleashing a raspy, almost unhinged vocal performance. At the same time, he did not forget fans of his earlier albums: the set included the beloved songs “Whitehouse Road” and “House Fire” from “Purgatory” and “Country Squire.”
The most poignant moment came with “Nose on the Grindstone,” performed on a small stage among the audience. The song recounts a miner father warning his son about the dangers of addiction; as the fiddle wept and Childers’ vocals tightened, the venue fell almost completely silent. The closing words about keeping one’s “nose on the grindstone and away from the pills” landed with particular force. Ultimately, the Seattle concert showed Childers as an experimenter, a showman and a performer still capable of moving audiences deeply.
Based on: Tyler Childers goes wild in overdue Seattle show