Jason Isbell returns Montana, here is one of my Isbell adventures

There are a handful of artists that I view as ‘must see’. Musicians that put on such an incredible show, that it just doesn’t matter if they are your ‘type’ of music or not.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit is one of those.

I’ve been lucky enough to see them play several times. My most memorable Isbell experience was on September 9, 2017. My day started nice and early in Butte, as Montana Tech was playing at MSU Northern in Havre that afternoon. I was excited about the football game but more excited for the Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit show in Missoula that night.

In my tiny mind, it was going to work out PERFECTLY. Kickoff was at 1 pm, I would be loaded in the car and off to Missoula by 4, 4:15 at the latest. I would roll into town, meet my bride and be fully ready to roll before Frank Turner went on stage to start the night.

It didn’t work out even remotely like that. As I look at the stat sheet from the football game, there is no duration listed, but there are a few stats that will give you an idea of how long this game was. There were a combined 97 points scored, 182 offensive plays ran, and 96 of those were passing attempts. If the game was televised they would have cut it off to air Heidi.

Needless to say, I got out of Havre LATE.

The closer and closer I got to Rogers Pass, a wall of smoke erased the horizon. To this day I swear on anything that you want to put in front of me, that I never did see any kind of signage saying the pass was closed, but as I drove over, the only people on the mountain were an army of firefighters, and me. By the time I crept over Rogers, and finally got to Missoula, I missed Frank Turner (the opener) but waltzed into the Wilma right as Isbell and the 400 unit went on stage. (even though I still feel like the applause was really for me because I actually made it.)

All that said, the reason I wrote this was to notify you that Isbell is coming back to Montana on the Fourth of July. Presale tickets can be purchased Thursday, and the general sale goes up Friday.

You can sign up for presale, and get general ticket information HERE.

So, I cannot guarantee that you will have some grand adventure if you decide to buy tickets to Isbell this summer. But I can tell you that you will have an unforgettable night, with one of the best touring bands in America, in the BEST venue in Montana, The Kettlehouse Amphitheater in Bonner.

I can’t wait to see you there.

Get our free mobile app