concert_goer | Wayne "The Train" Hancock @ HopMonk Tavern, Novato, CA, USA, 06/01/2025 (Reply)

IV and the Strange Band opened the night. The Roman numeral stands for Coleman Williams, a great-grandson of Hank Williams and a son of Hank Williams III. He usually plays with a larger band, but on Sunday he performed with just upright bass and electric guitar alongside his acoustic. The country songs he delivered were pretty solid, though I had a really hard time adjusting to Coleman's vocal vibrato throughout the set. From what he shared, there is no doubt IV has a clear artistic vision and a strong sense of integrity, and he remains committed to both, which I definitely respect, even though the sound of his music turned out to be not quite my cup of tea.

The mood shifted when Wayne "The Train" Hancock hit the stage, accompanied by Harvey Crowder on upright bass and Dalton Love on electric guitar. The first song was a bluesy number called Morning Noon and Night, and I liked it a lot. Wayne played a long set of great tunes, mostly Western and hillbilly swing, with some blues tracks mixed in. He is definitely quite a colorful character, especially judging by his run-ins with the law. His songs are really solid, many of them catchy and filled with great lyrics. I enjoyed a lot of them, including Killed Them Both, Freight Line Blues, and Thunderstorms and Neon Signs. There was a cool version of Hide Away by Freddie King, led by Dalton. The guitarist from the Strange Band joined in for a few numbers during the second half of the set, adding to the overall sound.

Toward the end, things got a bit chaotic when Wayne temporarily left the stage and let Harvey and Dalton entertain the crowd on their own. They stumbled trying to sing the Western swing standard Roly Poly, but managed to pull off a solid surf instrumental medley that started with Pipeline by The Ventures. Hancock returned just in time to play two more songs, one of them being a great version of Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. Overall, his set was impressive, and I left the venue after the show feeling quite satisfied with how I spent Sunday night at HopMonk Novato.

Set list (Wayne "The Train" Hancock, 7:20 PM — 9:13 PM): Morning Noon and Night, No Loving Tonight, Johnny Law, Flat Land Boogie, Viper, Hide Away (instrumental), Killed Them Both, ? (a song with no name yet, referred to as That Song, with "roll on" in the chorus), Wild Free and Reckless, Drinkin' Blues, 87 Southbound, Your Love and His Blood, Freight Line Blues, Tulsa, Dog Day Blues, Hoy Hoy Hoy (with Ethan Salas on second guitar), Cappuccino Boogie (with Ethan Salas on second guitar), Thunderstorms and Neon Signs (with Ethan Salas on second guitar), Highway 54 (with Ethan Salas on second guitar), Prospect in the Morning, Little Lisa, Roly Poly (without Wayne), Instrumental Medley (without Wayne; started with Pipeline by The Ventures), Folsom Prison Blues, Seven Nights to Rock

IV and the Strange Band