Audio By Carbonatix
See also: Hank Williams III Rips the Rulebook to Shreds Hank Williams III @ Marquee Theatre| August 15, 2012
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there. “The kind of country I hear nowadays is a bunch of fuckin’ shit to me.” That lyric from Hank Williams III‘s “Dick in Dixie” sums up his performance Wednesday night at Marquee Theatre in Tempe. Hank’s family practically invented outlaw country, and true to form, Hank III makes sure you know just how little of a fuck he gives. The venue was jammed to the rafters with sweaty shirtless dudes in cowboy hats and country girls slamming Pabst Blue Ribbon. Hank 3 opened the show with “Night Time Ramblin’ Man,” moving through “Trashville,” “Little Bit of Smoke & a Whole Lotta Wine,” and “Guttertown.” He was relentless, battering the crowd with his own brand of pill-poppin’, whiskey-chugging jams, including “The Devil Is My Friend,” “Country Heroes” — about wanting to get drunk and high with deceased country legends — “3 Shades of Black,” and “Troopers Hollar,” a song backed by vocal tracks of barking dogs. His 90-minute country set included two-dozen songs. After that, things got a little weird. For most of the crowd, what came next was probably nothing short of shocking and awful. The stage went dark, save for a green neon light at center stage. Suddenly, the giant projector screen behind the stage was awash with fast-moving clips of old black-and-white movies and disaster footage. Suddenly a hard-hitting double bass drum and distortion that had no business being there began to shake the audience.
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