JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT ARE NEARLY TRANSCENDENT AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL

LIVE REVIEW | JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT w/ Will Johnson | ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON | 11th June 2026 by Morris Shamah

When Jason Isbell takes a solo on his guitar, it wails. It’s like he’s pouring his soul out through the amplifier. The strings scream in despair, in frustration, in the grief of the collective experience of the downtrodden and disillusioned. You can imagine the ghosts of the blues stopping and listening, enraptured by what these fingers can do. When he sings, his voice is all Southern smooth, a real sweet tea; sugary and bitter in equal measure. He brings the heart of his characters forward and embodies them as if a prophet, possessed by those who may not have the voice themselves. It’s a nearly mystical example of what musical storytelling is like.

Backed by the teflon-slick band that is The 400 Unit, it’s clean, professional, and without any fault or failure. And yet, the crowd sits there, respectfully engrossed but almost never moving. As beautiful and crystal clear as the show is, the deafening silence and imprisoning stillness of the crowd is maddening – it’s not a classical music performance, you want to yell at them, it’s a goddamn rock and roll show.

The evening starts with a solo set from 400 Unit member Will Johnson, who is a fantastic performer and songwriter in his own right. Seated on a plain chair, he hunches over his guitar, his face obscured by a ballcap, his voice deep and gravelly. Johnson’s set is a raw, naked dish of gothic acoustic singer-songwriter material, and ends with a tribute to the late, great, Jason Molina.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit take the stage bang on time, giving themselves every minute possible for their extensive 2 hour and 15 minute set. They start things off rocking with 24 Frames, and roll on through, one Americana rocker after another. Decoration Day, a song from Isbell’s stint in the Drive-By Truckers, features the first of many extended set of guitar solos – Isbell’s tone goes from screaming rock n roll to glassy jazz with the push of single footswitch, and the 400 Unit rides a groove that builds up until his guitar is once again a distorted behemoth. It’s massive.

Royal Albert Hall is the perfect venue for it, as well – sight-lines are almost universally unobstructed, the lights and sound are excellent, and the music really fills the big open room, all the more powerful for having the physical and emotional space to breathe and grow.

For the slower, more introspective songs, the performance and crowd matches up idyllically. Alabama Pines followed by Elephant is a mid-set highlight, with the latter brought down to just vocals, guitar, and keys. The deference of the audience allows everyone to inhabit the truth sung by Isbell, and the music becomes a film score, there to amplify the narratives and character work.

For the bigger, bombastic rockers, however, it’s disheartening to see a crowd stay so immobile. In Children of Children, from 2015’s Something More Than Free, Isbell and the 400 Unit play their hearts, met only by a calm admiration. Isbell sings “All the years you took from her, just by being born” with total power, which is then accentuated by a drum shot and the lights going black – for just a second before the band kicks back in, in unison, at full volume, to bright yellow lighting. For any other rock band – or any other rock crowd – this would be cause for a roar and explosion of movement, but tonight it’s met with a smattering of soft applause.

The audience does finally get out of their seats, in a full standing ovation of hootin’ and hollerin’, at the end of This Ain’t It. It’s well deserved, as the song closes with a thunderous extended guitar duel. Isbell beams through the applause, his sense of pride and accomplishment in himself, his band, his music, and his audience written all over his face.

The following song, Cover Me Up, closes the main set, and is a beautiful ballad, starting with just acoustic and slide guitars and eventually becoming full band. The crowd sits back down for it, but Isbell rides the energy of the applause nonetheless, his singing a bit more raw and emotive, still perfect but touched by a hint of the possibility of transformative mess.

They open the encore with TVA, a Drive-By Truckers rarity, which Isbell dedicates to this night as a rare song for a special show. And it is a special show, it’s a beautiful performance from one of America’s most honest songwriters and talented bands, and a true wonder to behold in such a grand venue. As gorgeous as it is, however, the experience stops just short of the true transcendence that can come from that special alchemy of a physical crowd at a big rock show. One has to frustratingly wonder if a bit of embraced sloppiness and playfulness, both on stage and in the seats, might have opened up the evening from great to spectacular.

Galleries

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit

Will Johnson

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Setlist – 11th June 2026

1. 24 Frames
2. Hope the High Road
3. Bury Me
4. Volunteer
5. Decoration Day (Drive‐By Truckers cover)
6. Dress Blues
7. Dreamsicle
8. Children of Children
9. Alabama Pines
10. Elephant
11. Crimson and Clay
12. Outfit (Drive‐By Truckers cover)
13. Streetlights
14. Miles
15. Cast Iron Skillet
16. Flying Over Water
17. Danko/Manuel (Drive‐By Truckers cover)
18. This Ain’t It
19. Cover Me Up

Encore:

20. TVA (Drive‐By Truckers cover)
21. If We Were Vampires
22. King of Oklahoma