Perpetual Groove started off 2023 with a show at Chattanooga, TN’s The Barrelhouse on Friday.

The longstanding jam band’s first concert of the year featured covers of Talking Heads‘ “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” and The Cars‘ “Drive”. The latter tribute also appears on the group’s most recent extended release, 2021’s C’mon. Covers?

This year will see Perpetual Groove celebrate 20 years of its landmark debut Sweet Oblivious Antidote with an anniversary reissue. The band has already released new recordings of “Out Here” and “Suburban Speedball“, two longtime live favorites that finally got the studio treatment for the expanded Sweet Oblivious Antidote release out later this year.

All of this comes in a time of increasing momentum for Perpetual Groove. After being sidelined by the pandemic, Perpetual Groove returned to live performances only to say goodbye to longtime drummer Albert Suttle following the band’s 2021 New Year’s Eve show. Since then, Darren Stanley (Jimmy Herring, Col. Bruce Hampton) has commanded the kit and helped the band host its first Amberland festival in ten years over Memorial Day Weekend in 2022.  

Check out a gallery of images from Perpetual Groove in Chattanooga courtesy of photographer Christian Stewart. The band plays tonight, January 7th, at The Basement East in Nashville. For tickets and a full list of tour dates head here.

Setlist: Perpetual Groove | The Barrelhouse | Chattanooga, TN | 1/6/23

Set One: Holy Ship, Playground, Suburban Speedball, Two Shores, Cairo > BOA > Space Paranoids > This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads)

Set Two: Crockett & Tubbs, AIM, Three Weeks > Drive (The Cars), Crapshoot, Robot Waltz

Encore: It Starts Where It Ends