Driver holds her own at Depot

MARTIN SEXTON AND MINNIE DRIVER, The Depot, Wednesday.

Actress Minnie Driver can sing. And she can hold her own against hecklers in the crowd.

The "Good Will Hunting" actress headlined a show Wednesday night with Martin Sexton at The Depot, the new nightclub built in the Union Pacific depot at The Gateway.

After Sexton's set, Driver stepped onto the stage. And after a couple of songs, a lone and loud Sexton fan screamed for his idol, but Driver stood her ground.

"Oh, shut up," she said in her soft-spoken English accent. "He's already halfway home to Massachusetts. Do you think he'd stick around to listen to me?"

Actually, Sexton should have stuck around. At least the heckler clammed up, and the audience was able to hear Driver and her band play some tunes.

The set was made up of songs that will appear on the entertainer's upcoming album.

"So, you're guinea pigs," she said with a smile.

Opening with the low-drive of "Mockingbird" and sliding into the open-road Americana folk-rock work "Invisible Girl," Driver and the band — featuring a pedal steel guitarist, a drummer, a keyboardist, bassist, two guitarists and Driver on acoustic guitar — charmed the standing-room only audience.

The heartfelt lullaby of "Home," which Driver wrote for a friend's children, was also in the mix.

Getting things started was Sexton. The folk singer took the stage just after 9:40 p.m. and, armed with his trusty acoustic guitar and an extra-effects microphone, gave the audience a spiritual awakening.

His yodeling and crooning voice was in top form, highlighted by The Depot's state-of-the-art sound system. And his guitar, like Driver's band, was crisp and clear.

The confessional "Beast in Me" and the restless "Freedom of the Road" were a couple of Sexton's trademark tunes in the set.

His soaring "Hallelujah" and love-struck "Angeline" were other audience attention-grabbers. His poignant "The Way That I Am" and yearning "Black Sheep" were highlighted by sporadic "amens" and "brothers and sisters" by the singer.

"Things You Do to Me" and the soulful encore version of "America the Beautiful" hit the spot as Sexton subtly gave the audience hints about praying for Washington about "love and peace."

Driver and Sexton were the perfect combination at The Depot Wednesday night.

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com