Live Report: Jason Isbell dazzles Vicar Street

Six-time Grammy award-winning artist Jason Isbell captivated Vicar Street on Wednesday.

The country star appeared on stage just past 8 p.m., sitting comfortably on a chair with his acoustic guitar. A sea of fans erupted in cheers, and as the first song began, almost no phones were in sight.

“We’re gonna have a good night tonight, we’re gonna have a good time,” he said. “I haven’t been here in a while. I think it was 2022 last time I played here. I’ve got some songs that y’all might not’ve heard me sing before.”

He began playing ‘King of Oklahoma,’ a track off Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s 2023 album Weathervanes. While the recorded track features percussion and strings, Isbell performed a stripped-back version with only him and his guitar. His voice, thick and rich, cut through the air.

“His voice is like butter,” one fan commented.

I was most impressed by Isbell’s introspective, confessional lyricism. His music touched on themes of nostalgia, love, heartache and family, feeling both intensely intimate and widely universal. Isbell’s finger-picking melodies blew me away, his hands oozing with agility and skill.

“If you come here to Dublin and you have an acoustic guitar and you sing songs, you got to be real fucking careful,” he said. “Just walking around, going to get lunch, I saw three people with an acoustic guitar on the same block, and they were incredible. They were so good. And like in Nashville, if you have a busker that is good, you might see them one time…then somebody grabs them. They're like, ‘We're going to make you a country star.’ You never hear from them ever again.”

Later in the night, Isbell played stand-out track ‘Eileen,’ the third song off his upcoming album Foxes in the Snow. While currently unreleased, the song will be available on streaming platforms March 7. Isbell’s performance of ‘Middle of the Morning’ highlighted more of his vocal prowess, belting into the microphone with ease. Fans in the audience sang along politely, though most stayed quiet in reverence of his performance.

Another stand-out track, ‘If We Were Vampires,’ addressed the pain associated with losing a loved one to old age.

“Maybe time running out is a gift,” he sang. “I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift / And give you every second I can find / And hope it isn't me who's left behind.”

Isbell described the process of recording ‘If We Were Vampires’ with producer Dave Cobb.

“I get about halfway through the song and I look up and I just see the top of his head, and that his face is on the recording console, and he was just bawling. He got up, got his coat and went home. He was like, ‘I gotta go have dinner with my family,’” recalled Isbell.

His tour, titled An Intimate Evening with Jason Isbell, was aptly named. The acoustic show felt relaxed and personal, creating a close-knit experience for the audience.

Before leaving the stage, Isbell addressed the crowd one final time.

“I’ll see you again soon,” he said.