Gwinnett Daily Post

DULUTH -- Let's face it. Now that you've hosted the Thanksgiving feast, watched hours of football action and went Black Friday shopping -- not all by choice, either -- it's time to let down your hair for the rest of the weekend.

If you're in the partying mood, Wild Bill's hosts its annual Holiday Hangover Party tonight with Blackberry Smoke headlining the show.

The Southern rock quintet is no stranger to the Duluth venue. It's their third time performing at "America's largest dance club and concert hall."

"It just seemed like the right thing to do. We've never thought about it specifically," singer Charlie Starr said about playing a post-holiday concert. "(Wild Bill's is) great because it's the world's large honky tonk as they say. ... The last time we played there, I returned the next week to see Dwight Yoakam. I had seen him before but this time was different because the audience was eclectic. Older couples, young hipster kids, rednecks -- it runs the whole gamut at Wild Bill's."

Although Starr won't create the set list until today, he knows that Blackberry Smoke will perform several new songs from their latest album, "The Whippoorwill" as well as old hits and cover songs.

"We have a new album and we will definitely do a lot of that this year," he said. "I take a basic approach, but it's not the same show every night because we have people who come to multiple shows and follow us around and we don't to hand them the same thing every time. This being a holiday show, we'll have something special."

Opening the night is the Dancing Outlaw, Jesco White, and singer-songwriter Levi Lowrey, who hails from Dacula. Both are a treat to watch, according to Starr, especially White.

"Outlaw dancing ... it's almost impossible to explain if you don't know what it is," he said. "He's an icon, a counterculture icon. It's going to be a very unpredictable night. His presence is something."

At the start of the new year, Blackberry Smoke continues living on the road on a House of Blues tour.