Dustbowl Revival played a fantastic show recently at DC’s famed The Hamilton Live restaurant and music venue to a very engaged audience — and a nearly sold-out show. The Hamilton Live, with two-levels, was filled to near capacity and featured an evening of two outstanding bands in great form.
Dustbowl Revival, a band from Venice, California, fronted by founder Z. Lupetin, is currently on tour in the USA, and played a very high-performance, roots driven set at The Hamilton Live on Feb. 5 to an audience that loved the big band style sounds, and music that you may have found mainstream back in the ’60s. Everyone was particularly excited to hear the vocals of lead singer Alex Nester.
The audience was definitely engaged for both Dustbowl Revival and opener Strutman Lane singing and dancing during these two similar but different sets of music.
DC’s Strutman Lane, with lead singer Adam Linda leading the way, opened the show with their mixture of pop, rock, and soul, and set the tone for the later dynamic set by Dustbowl Revival. The DC area band has been increasingly moving up in stature and will be playing the famous 9:30 Club in DC later this summer.
Watch Strutman Lane perform their funk cover of “Lavender Haze” by Taylor Swift live on YouTube:
The show was colored by Dustbowl Revival’s Americana, roots driven sound propelled forward with a very fine acoustic, and horns section that helps define their sound. The music is engaging, fluid, and allows the audience to feel upbeat and participate in the experience especially as they were invited by the band to come and fill the front area of the stage for singing and dancing during the concert. After a few persons ventured forward, you could see more and more going forward.
Watch Dustbowl Revival perform “Feels Good” live at Rhythm & Roots Rhode Island on YouTube:
The Hamilton Live is a well-known, dark venue, reminiscent of a jazz and dinner club from the ’30s. It has become a main venue for Americana-style music over the last several years, and is a great place to go see a show.
Dustbowl played their own music and a nice mixture of songs throughout their set, ranging from John Prine covers to Linda Ronstadt and the Band. Dustbowl played special homage to The Band with a great cover of the Band’s “The Weight” in honor of the recent passing of Garth Hudson, the saxophone player from the original band.
Overall, the show was outstanding, with numerous people dancing in front of the stage and throughout the venue. It was a night of great music, and music and song that lifts people up
Dustbowl Revival will continue to tour in the USA this winter and spring, and they are scheduled to finish the current tour in West Los Angeles at The Venice West on April 4.
The band talks a lot during the shows, engaging the audience to not only be an attendee to a rock show, but to also be a participant in their style of roots driven, Americana music. If you haven’t seen the band live, they are a must see for any fan of this style of music, and anyone wanting to enjoy a great night of song and dance.
Here are some photos of Dustbowl Revival performing at The Hamilton Live on Feb. 5, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.
And here are some photos of Strutman Lane opening Dustbowl Revival at The Hamilton Live on Feb. 5, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.
