1970s-style Americana/hard-rock band Well Worn Boot released Live from Jamestown on May 20, a live album featuring four songs from their 2023 album, Riverbottom Nightmare. The nearly 20-minute experience uses recorded audio from two live 2022 performances, one in Jamestown and the other in Forestville.
Initially formed in 2010, Well Worn Boot has always thrived on their commitment to entertain. Constantly dressed in extravagant costumes for live sets, the band’s public inspiration of GWAR is worn on their sleeves. Their 2023 album, Riverbottom Nightmare, saw Well Worn Boot returning and refining the comedy-laced American hard rock sound they began in their early years, particularly on their only previous full-length project, Greatest Hits: Vol. 1 (2010-2014).
The boys in the band’s newest project, Live from Jamestown, which was released exclusively on Bandcamp, sees Well Worn Boot taking a choice few songs from their previous album to a live setting. The live atmosphere of both sets is perfectly encapsulated through lead singer/flutist Plainsman’s natural stage banter and the crowd’s cheers, but clearly mixed with care so that the online quality is top-notch.
While not having any original tracks, Live from Jamestown shows Well Worn Boot in their element: the stage. All four songs maintain the manic and over-the-top energy that came from their studio counterparts, but dialed up to 11. Good luck trying to keep the hooks from “Knockin’ One Back with the Boys” or “Makin’ Money for the City” out of your head.
The biggest highlight of the album has to be the eight-minute barn burner, “Boys in the Band.” Already a six-minute track on the 2023 album, the live version extends the run time by an additional two minutes, mostly taken up by a mid-song passionate yet hilarious comparison of being in a band to being on a sports team.
Hopefully Live from Jamestown is just a hold-me-over for Well Worn Boot’s next full-length LP, because the world needs more of the theatric aggression that Well Worn Boot relentlessly displays with every release, especially this one.
Key Tracks: “Knockin’ One Back with the Boys,” “Makin’ Money for the City,” “Boys in the Band”
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