Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s rewind

Part 9: Spread the word around

Remember that time Daniel Elias + Exotic (Fiddle) Worms rocked our souls? Yeah you do. I never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd, y’all, but that night during Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s, the band I was in played “The Boys are Back in Town.”

You know that moment when you're at a concert and the tide turns? The vibe shifts from being a really really good show to a WOW, off the charts, once-in-a-lifetime experience? You know what I'm talking about, right? That’s what happened when MSM the 70s met Daniel Crisler repping Thin Lizzy. It was as if Daniel held court for those three plus minutes and we were all at his mercy and in his band. Yes, please.

Daniel’s energy preceded him as he stormed Florence’s historic Shoals Theatre stage. I promise, he was so completely vibing in the moment that I could see his electrified aura, y’all. Daniel vibrated with rock n’ roll magic. He wielded the coolest Gibson Flying V you’ve ever laid eyes on, too. He stepped to the microphone and said, “The last time I was here was in the 1980s. We’re going back — the boys are back.”

I am so small town and I kind of love it because my small town is the Shoals. The boys being back in town had me caught in a tractor beam from that first iconic guitar riff. Those Exotic (Fiddle) Worms set the stage on fire, and I couldn’t look away. These guys, y’all — Daniel, Mitch Mann, Scott Todd, Steve Vickery, Michael Dillon Curington, and Cissy Guin — not only were the boys back in town, they really showed out. Oh my goodness, friends, Jamie Barrier and Eddie Martin were doing the back-up call and response, too. I was living my best life right there with all the bright shining stars, “The boy are back in town.”

There's a reason Thin Lizzy's "The Boys are Back in Town" never fades into obscurity. There's a reason the song has been in dozens of movies and TV shows. The toys are back in town, y'all ... if you know, you know. For decades now, it has served as a go-to walk-up song for the boys of summer and it has primed crowds at many a sporting event. It's an anthem of youth and badassery that transcends time, space, and generations. Truthfully, it was kind of cliché to me before MSM the 70s. Now, it’s my walk-up song.

Let there be rock.

Stay tuned … more to come.

Dig Worms.

Photo credit: Devona Hawkins